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C II E I S T 
KNOCKING AT THE DOOR 



SINNERS' HEARTS; 



OR, 



A SOLEMN ENTREATY TO RECEIYE THE SAVIOUR AND HIS GOSPEL. 



THIS THE DAY OF MERCY. 



BY REV. JOHN FLAYEL. 
1689. 



REVISED EDITION. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 

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JUN 16 1942 

Accessions Division 
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PREFATORY NOTICE 



The following is a revised edition of an admirable treatise 
by the author of " The Fountain of Life" and "The Method of 
Grace." 

It appeared originally under the title of "England's Duty y' 
and consisted of twelve sermons, preached, under the rich effu- 
sions of the Spirit, to the author's congregation, in the years 
1688-9, about two years before his death, on the restoration of 
religious freedom, through the revolution that virtually annulled 
the Act of Uniformity, by which the author for twenty-five years 
had been restrained from the free and public exercise of his 
ministry. 

In this edition the treatise has been arranged in the form of 
chapters, and while considerable liberty has been taken with the 
language, in changing obscure phraseology, substituting modern 
for obsolete words, and omitting repetitious passages, the spirit 
of the writer and his views of Christian doctrine have been care- 
fully preserved, and every scriptural quotation has been verified. 
A new title has likewise been adopted, more significant of the 
subject-matter of the work. It is believed, that in its present 
form, it will be esteemed a worthy companion to those already 
named, and, under the divine blessing, add greatly to the useful- 
ness of the estimable author. 



CONTENTS. 



From the Authors Epistle to the Reader, & 

CHAPTER I. 

THE OFFERS OF MERCY RECORDED AND WITNESSED 
FOR THE JUDGMENT-DAY. 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open 
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." 
Rev. 3:20 9 

CHAPTER II. 

THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock," 27 

CHAPTER III. 

THE HEART BARRED AGAINST CHRIST. 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock," 43 

CHAPTER IV. 

CHRIST'S PATIENCE IN WAITING UPON OBSTINATE 

SINNERS. 

u Behold, I stand at the door and knock, 73 

CHAPTER Y. 

EVERY CONVICTION OF CONSCIENCE AND MOTION OF 

THE SPIRIT A KNOCK FROM CHRIST. 

u Behold, I stand at the door and knock, 107 

CHAPTER VI. 

CHRIST'S EARNEST ENTREATY FOR UNION AND COM- 
MUNION WITH SINNERS. 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock" • 141 

CHAPTER VII. 

CHRIST REJECTS NONE WHO OPEN TO HIM. 
"If any man hear my voice, and open the door, T will come in to him," 181 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

NONE RECEIVE CHRIST UNTIL HIS SPIRITUAL QUICK- 
ENING VOICE IS HEARD. 
" If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,"- 216 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE OPENING OF THE HEART TO CHRIST BY FAITH 

THE GREAT DESIGN OF THE GOSPEL. 

' If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him," 248 

CHAPTER X. 

CHRIST BRINGS GREAT BLESSINGS TO THE SOUL THAT 

OPENS TO HIM. 
u If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come i?i to him, and 
will siip with him, and he with me," 271 

CHAPTER XI. 

COMMUNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEVERS ON 

EARTH. 

" I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me,"- • • 304 

CHAPTER XII. 

COMMUNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEVERS ON 
EARTH— continued v 
"I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with meP 324 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE TRUTH HELD IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. 
"The wrath of Grod is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and un- 
righteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." Rom. 
1:18, 349 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE TRUTH HELD IN UNRIGHTE CUSNE SS — continued. 
u The wrath of Grod is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and un- 
righteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.' Rom. 
1:18, 376 



FROM THE 

AUTHOR'S EPISTLE TO THE READER. 



Candid Reader — The following discourse comes to thy hand 
in the native plainness in which it was preached. I was con- 
scientiously unwilling to alter it, because I found by experi- 
ence the Lord had blessed and prospered it in that dress, far 
beyond any other composures on which I had bestowed more 
pains. Let it not be censured as vanity or ostentation, that I 
here acknowledge the goodness of God in leading me to, and 
blessing my poor labors on this subject. Who and what am I, 
that I should be continued and again employed in the Lord's 
harvest, and that with success and encouragement, when so 
many of my brethren, with much richer gifts and graces, have 
in my time been called out of the vineyard, and are now silent 
in the grave. It is true, they enjoy what I do not; and it is as 
true, I am capable of doing some service for God which they 
are not. In preaching these sermons, I had many occasions to 
reflect upon the sense of that scripture, " The ploughman shall 
overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth 
seed." Amos 9:13. Sowing and reaping times trod so close 
upon each other, that, in all humility I speak it to the praise of 
God, it was the busiest and most blessed time I ever saw since 1 
first preached the gospel. 

We have now a day of special mercy : there is a wide door 
of religious opportunity opened to us. that it may prove an 
effectual door. It is wonderful, that after all our sinful provoca- 
tions this sweet voice is still heard, " Behold, I stand at the door 
and knock." Our mercies and liberties are obtained for us by 
our potent Advocate in the heavens : if we bring forth fruit, well ; 
if not, the axe lieth at the root of the tree. Let us not feel 
secure. Jerusalem was the city of the great King* the seat of 



8 EPISTLE TO THE READER. 

his worship and the symhols of his presence were fixed there ; it 
was the joy of the whole earth, the house of prayer for all na- 
tions; thither the tribes went up to worship, the tribes of the 
Lord unto the testimony of Israel. For there were set thrones 
of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Psa. 122 : 4, 5. 
These privileges she enjoyed through the succession of many 
ages, and she had remained the glory of all nations to this day, 
had she known and improved in that day the things that belong- 
ed to her peace; but her people neglected their season, rejected 
their mercies, and miserably perished in their sins : for there ever 
was and will be found to be an inseparable connection between 
the final rejection of Christ, and the destruction of the rejecters, 
Matt. 22 : 5-7, the contemplation of which drew compassionate 
tears from the Redeemer's eyes, when he beheld it in his descent 
from the mount of Olives. Luke 19 : 41, 42. 

As to this treatise, thou wilt find it a persuasive to open thy 
heart to Christ. Thy soul, reader, is a magnificent structure 
built by Christ; such stately rooms as thy understanding, will, 
conscience, and affections, are too good for any other to inhabit. 
If thou art in thy unregenerate state, he solemnly demands in 
this treatise admission into the soul he made, by the consent of 
the will ; which, if thou refuse to give him, then witness is taken 
that Christ once more demanded entrance into thy soul, which 
he made, and was denied it. If thou hast opened thy heart to 
him, thou wilt, I hope, meet somewhat in this treatise that will 
cleai thy evidences and cheer thy heart. Pray, read, ponder, 
and apply. I am 

Thine and the church's servant, 

JOHN FLAVEL. 



CHRIST 
KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE OFFERS OF MERCY RECORDED AND WIT 
NESSED FOR THE JUDGMENT-DAY. 

"BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK: IF ANY MAN 
HEAR MY VOICE, AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN TO HIM, 
AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME." Rev. 3 : 20. 

This day hath our compassionate Redeemer opened unto 
us a door of liberty — liberty to us to preach, and liberty for 
you to hear the glad tidings of the gospel. This is a day 
few looked for ; how often have I said in the years that are 
past, God hath no more work for me to do, and I shall have 
no more strength and opportunities to work for God. And 
how often have you said in your hearts, we have sinned our 
ministers out of their pulpits, and our eyes shall no more 
behold these our teachers. But lo, beyond the thoughts of 
most hearts, a wide and, I hope, an effectual door is now 
opened in the midst of us. that it may be to us as the 
valley of Achor was to Israel, "for a door of hope," Hosea 
2:15; not only making the troubles they met with in that 
valley an inlet to their mercies, as ours have been to us, but 
giving them that valley as a pledge of greater mercies intend 
ed for them. Upon the first appearance of this mercy, my 
thoughts were how to make the most fruitful improvement 
of it among you, lest we should sin ourselves hack again into 
bondage. 

1% 



10 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

In the contemplation of this matter, the Lord directed 
me to this scripture, wherein the same hand that opened to 
you the door of liberty, knocks importunately at the doors of 
your hearts for entrance into them, and for union and com- 
munion with them. It will be sad indeed if he who hath 
let you into all these mercies, should himself be shut out of 
your hearts ; but if the Lord help you to open your hearts 
now to Christ, I doubt not this door of liberty will be kept 
open to you, how many soever the adversaries be that will 
do their utmost to shut it up. Ezek. 39 : 29. The mercies 
you enjoy this day are the fruits of Christ's intercession with 
the Father for one trial more : if we bring forth fruit, well ; 
if not, the axe lieth at the root of the tree. Under this con- 
sideration I desire to speak, and even so the Lord help you 
to hear what shall be spoken from this precious scripture, 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any 

HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, 1 WILL COME I.N TO HI>f, 
AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME." 

These words are a branch of that excellent epistle dicta- 
ted by Christ, and sent by his servant John to the church ui 
Laodicea, the most formal and degenerate of all the seven 
churches; yet the great Physician will try his skill upon 
them, both by the rebukes of the rod and by the peiSUAr 
sive power of the word, " Behold, I stand at the door and 
knock," etc. 

This text is Christ's wooing voice, full of heavenly rhet- 
oric to win and gain the hearts of sinners to himself; wherein 
we have these two general parts. 

1. Christ's suit for a sinner's heart. 

2. The powerful arguments enforcing his suit. 

1. Christ's suit for a sinners heart, in which is, (1,; 
tlie solemn preface, ushering it in, " Behold" The prd 
is exceedingly solemn; for besides the common use of tins 
word behold in other places, to excite attention or pot 
weight into an affirmation, it stands here, as a j' 



OFFERS OF MERCY. 11 

expositor says, as a term of notification or public record, 
wherein Christ takes witnesses of the most gracious offer he 
w r as now about to make to their souls, and will have it stand 
for a perpetual memorial of this offer, as a testimony for or 
against their souls to all eternity, to cut off all excuses and 
pretences for time to come. 

(2.) The suitor, Christ himself, " /stand ;" I who have 
a right of sovereignty over you ; I who have shed my inval- 
uable blood to purchase you, and might justly condemn you 
upon the first denial or demur, " behold, I stand:" this is 
the suitor. 

(3.) His posture and action, "I stand at the door and 
knock :" the word is fitly translated, "I stand," yet so as that 
it notes a continual action. I have stood, and do still stand 
with unwearied patience ; I once stood personally and bodily 
among you in the days of my flesh, and I still stand spirit 
ually and representatively in my ambassadors at the door, 
that is, the mind and conscience, the faculties and powers 
which are introductory to the whole soul. 

The w T ord " door " is here properly put to signify those 
introductory faculties of the soul, which are of like use to it, 
as the door is to the house. This is the Redeemer's posture, 
his action is knocking, that is, his powerful and gracious 
attempts to open the heart to give him admission. The 
v\\>rd " knock " signifies a strong and powerful knock ; he 
stands patiently, and knocks powerfully by the w T ord out- 
wardly, by the convictions, motions, impulses, and strivings 
of his Spirit inwardly. 

(4.) Tlie 'design and end of the suit; it is for " open- 
ing" to him, that is, consenting, receiving, and heartily 
accepting him by faith. The Lord opened the heart of 
Lydia, Acts 16 : 14 ; that is, persuaded her soul to believe ; 
implying that the heart by nature is strongly barred and 
locked up against Christ, and that nothing but a power from 
him can open it. 



12 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

2. The powerful arguments, and motives used by Christ 
to obtain his suit in the sinner's heart ; and they are drawn 
from two inestimable benefits which accrue to the opening 
or believing soul. 

(1.) Union: "I will come in to him;" that is, I will 
unite myself with the opening, believing soul ; he shall be 
mystically one with me, and I with him. 

(2.) Communion: " I will sup with him, and he with 
me ;" that is, I will feast the believing soul with the delicto 
cies of heaven ; such comforts, joys, and pleasures as none 
but believers are capable of. 

And, to set home all, these special benefits are pro] 
by Christ to all sorts of sinners, great and small, old and 
young : " If any man hear my voice, and open the door :' ! 
that so no soul might be discouraged from believing by t he 
greatness or multitude of his sins, but the vilest of sinneiv 
may see free grace triumphing over all their unworthii 
on their consent to take Christ according to the gracious 
oners of the gospel. 

The words thus opened afford many great and useful 
points of doctrine, comprehending in them the very substance 
of the gospel. The first which arises from the solemn and 
remarkable preface, "Behold," will be this: 

That every offer of Christ to the so 
recorded and ivitnessed with respect to the day of account 
and reckoning. 

Here we shall inquire into three things : AYho are < I 
witnesses to all the offers of the gospel ; what they witni 
to; and why God records every offer of Christ, and take! 
witness thereof 

I. Who are God's witnesses to all the tenden ind 
offers made of Christ by the gospel? and they will be found 
to be more than a strict legal number ; for, 

1. His ministers, by whom he makes them, are all wit- 



OFFERS OF MERCY. 13 

nesses as well as officers of Christ to the people. " I have 
appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister 
and a witness." Acts 26 : 16. Here you see ministers have 
a double office, to propose and offer Christ, and then to bear 
witness for or against those to whom he is thus offered ; they 
ere expressly called God's witnesses. Rev. 11 : 7. Their 
labors witness, their sufferings witness, their solemn appeals 
to God witness, yea, the very dust of their feet shaken ofl 
against the refusers of Christ, turns to a testimony against 
them. Mark 6:11. Every sigh, every drop of sweat, 
much more of blood, are placed in God's book along with all 
their sermons and prayers, and will be produced and read in 
the great day against all the refusers and despisers of Christ. 

2. The gospel itself, which is preached to you, is a tes- 
timony or witness for God against every one who rejects it. 
" He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath 
one that judgeth him ; the word that I have spoken, the 
same shall judge him in the last day." John 12 : 48. And 
this is the sense of Christ's word, Matt. 24 : 14, " And this 
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, 
for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end 
come." Ah, what a solemn record is here ; every sermon 
you hear, yea, every reproof, persuasion, and conviction is a 
witness for God to condemn every soul in judgment that 
complies not immediately with the calls of the gospel : so 
many sermons, so many witnesses. 

3. Every man's conscience is a witness for God, that 
he has a fair offer made him ; the very consciences of the 
heathen who never saw a Bible, who had no other preachers 
but the sun, moon, and stars and other works of nature ; 
yet of them the apostle says, that they " show the work of 
the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bear- 
ing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing 
or else excusing one another." Rom. 2 : 15. Certainly if 
such vigor and activity was put into the consciences of 



14 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

heathen, who could only read the will of God by the dim 
moonlight of natural reason, how much more vigorous and 
active will conscience be in its accusing office against all 
who live under the bright beams of gospel light. Their 
consciences will be swift witnesses, and will ring sad peals 
in their ears another day. They " shall know that there 
hath been a prophet among them." Ezek. 2 : 5. This 
single witness is instead of a thousand other witnesses for 
God. 

4. The examples of all ivho believe and obey the gospel, 
are so many witnesses for God against the despisers and ncg- 
lecters of the great salvation. Every mourning, trembling 
soul among you is a witness against all the dead-hearted, un- 
believing, disobedient ones that sit with them under the same 
ordinances. Hence it is said, " Do ye not know that the saints 
shall judge the world ?' ; 1 Cor. 6 : 2. They shall be a.— 
sors with Christ in the great day, and condemn the world by 
their examples, as Noah did the old world. Thus, " John 
came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed 
him not : but the publicans and the harlots believed him ; 
and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that 
ye might believe him." Matt. 21 : 32. A said, 

What shift do you make to quiet your conscienc iile 

your convictions, when you see publicans, the w< ien, 

and harlots, the worst of women, repenting md 

hungering after Christ ; their - U be your ju<L 

These are God's witnesses. 

II. Next let us consider what is the 
unto which they give their testimony, and that will I 
twofold, according to the twofold eliect the \ 
them who hear it: of both which the ; 
count, "To the one we are the savor of death 
and to the other the savor of life unto li i 0. 

Accordingly a double record is mad 

1. Of the obedience and faith oj which record 



OFFERS OF MERCY. 15 

will be produced to their joy and comfort in the day of the 
Lord ; "when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and 
to be admired in all them that believe (because our testi- 
mony among you was believed) in that day." 2 Thess. 
1 : 10. Ministers are instruments of espousing souls to 
Christ, and witnesses to those espousals between him and 
them. 2 Cor. 11 : 2. Both these offices are exceedingly 
grateful and pleasant to every faithful minister. 

2. A record is made, and witness taken of all the re- 
fusals, disobedience, a?id slightings of Christ by others. 
Thus Moses will be the accuser of the Jews. " Do not think 
that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that 
accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." John 5 : 45. 
This is the saddest part of a minister's work ; the fore- 
thoughts of it are more afflictive than all our labors and 
sufferings. There is a threefold record made in this case. 

(1.) Of the time men have enjoyed under the means of 
salvation, how many years they have sat barren and cold- 
hearted under the labors of God's faithful ministers. " Be- 
hold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, 
and find none." Luke 13 : 7. "Behold," the same term 
of notification with that in the text, applied to the time of 
God's patience towards them. And again, "From the 
thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, 
even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the 
word of the Lord hath come unto me, and I have spoken 
unto you, rising early and speaking ; but ye have not heark- 
ened." Jer. 25 : 3. consider, all the years and days you 
have spent under the gospel are upon your doomsday-book. 

(2.) Records are also made of all the instruments God 
has employed for the conversion and salvation of your souls. 
So many ministers, whether fixed or transient, as have spent 
their labors upon you, are upon the book of your account. 
"The Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, 
rising early and sending them ; but ye have not hearkened 



16 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

nor inclined your ear to hear." Jer. 25 : 4. They have 
wasted their health, dropped their compassionate tears, and 
burnt down one after another like candles, to direct you to 
Christ and salvation, hut all in vain. 

(3.) Every call, persuasion, and argument used by them 
to espouse you to Christ, is likewise upon the book of account. 
" Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched 
out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye have set at 
naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof." 
Prov. 1 : 24, 25. These calls and counsels are of too great 
value with God, though of none with you, to be lost and left 
out of your account. 

III. We shall inquire into the grounds and reasons oi 
these judicial procedures of God : why he will have every 
man's obedience and disobedience registered and witnessed 
for or against him, under gospel administrations ; and there 
are two weighty reasons thereof. 

1. That icherever the end of the gospel is attained in 
the conversion of a soul, that soul, and all ivho were instru- 
mentally employed about the salvation of it, may have the 
proper reward and comfort in the great day. " As also 
ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, 
even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus." 2 
Cor. 1 : 14. This will be matter of joy unspeakable, both 
to you that shall receive, and to them that shall give such 
a comfortable testimony for you. the joyful congratula- 
tions of that day between laborious, faithful ministers, and 
their believing, obedient hearers. " Lord, this was the bless- 
ed instrument of my happy illumination and conversion ; 
though I might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet 
not many fathers ; for by the blessing of thy Spirit on this 
man's ministry, my soul was begotten to Christ." And, on 
the other side, "Lord, these are the souls for whom I trav- 
ailed, as in birth, until Christ was formed in them." It is 
a glorious thing to say, as the prophet, " Here am I, and the 



OFFERS OF MERCY. 17 

children God hath given me." Nay, those who were but 
collaterally useful to help on the work of God begun by 
others, must not lose their reward in that day. " And he 
that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life 
eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may 
rejoice together." John 4 : 36. 

2. Records are now made, and witness taken, that there- 
by the judicial sentence of Jesus Christ in the last day 
may be made clear to all the ivorld ; that every mouth may 
be stopped, and no plea left in the mouth of any condemned 
sinner. For Christ in that day cometh "to convince all that 
are ungodly," Jude 15 ; to convince by demonstration, that 
all that are Christless now may be found speechless then. 
Matt. 22 : 12. Hence it is said, "The ungodly shall not 
stand in the judgment." Psalm 1:5. And no wonder, 
when so many full testimonies and unexceptionable wit- 
nesses shall come point blank against them : the ministers 
that preached, the word they preached, their own conscien- 
ces, and the example of all believers will be produced against 
them. 

Inference 1. The undoubted certainty of a day of 
judgment is hence evinced. To what purpose else are 
records made, and witness taken, but with respect to an 
audit-day ? This is a truth sealed on the conscience of the 
very heathen ; their consciences bear witness. Rom. 2:15. 
But in vain are all these records made, unless there be a day 
to produce and plead them ; and of that day the prophet 
Daniel speaks, " The judgment was set, and the books were 
opened." Daniel 7:10. And again, "I saw the dead, 
small and great, stand before God ; and the books were 
opened ; and another book was opened, which is the book of 
life ; and the dead were judged out of those things which 
were written in the book, according to their works." Rev 
20 : 12. 

Believe it, friends, these are no cunningly devised fables, 



18 CHRIST KNOCKING^ AT THE DOOR. 

but awful and infallible truths. If the gospel now produces 
saving effects, it will then be a time of refreshing to our 
souls, Acts 3:19; but to all who reject it, it will be a day 
of terror, wrath, and amazement. It will be the day in 
which the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with 
his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them 
that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8. 

2. What a motive is here to ministerial diligence and 
faithfulness. It is an awful work that is under our hands ; 
the effects of the gospel which we preach will be the savor 
of life or death to them that hear us. If the Lord prosper 
it in our hands, we shall be witnesses for you ; it will be an 
addition to our glory in heaven. " They that be wise, shall 
shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn 
many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." 
Dan. 12 : 3. But if we are ignorant, lazy, or men-pleasers, 
our people will come in as swift witnesses against us, and 
their blood will be required at our hands ; it will be an intol- 
erable aggravation to our misery in hell, to have any that 
sat under our ministry thus upbraiding us : "0 cruel man, 
thou sawest my soul in danger, and never didst deal faith- 
fully and plainly with me ; the time and breath that was 
spent hi idle and worldly discourse, might have been instru- 
mental to save me from this place of torment." Let minis- 
ters consider themselves as witnesses for God, and their 
people as witnesses for or against thsm ; and under that 
consideration, let them so study, preach, and pray, that they 
may with Paul take God to record that they are free from 
the blood of all men : no men on earth have more motives to 
diligence and faithfulness than we have. 

3. What an argument is this to banish formality from 
all ivho hear us. Every Sabbath, every sermon, is recorded 
in heaven for or against your souls : in what way soever 
you attend to the word, all that you hear is set down in the 



OFFERS OF MERCY. 19 

book of your account ; think not you shall return as you 
came ; the word will have its effect ; it shall not return in 
vain, but shall accomplish the end for which it is sent. Isa. 
55 : 11. The decrees of heaven are executed by the gospel ; 
some souls shall be quickened, and others shall be slain by 
the word of God's mouth. The gospel is a river of the 
water of life, which quickens and refreshes every thing that, 
lives ; but the miry and marshy places shall not be healed. 
Ezek. 47 : 11. How weighty, therefore, is that caution of 
our Lord, "Take heed how ye hear." Luke 8 : 18. When 
you come under an ordinance, you are sowing seed for eternity, 
which will spring up in the world to come. Preaching and 
hearing may be considered two ways, physically and moral- 
ly ; in the former respect, these acts are quickly over and pass 
away. I shall by and by have done preaching, and you 
hearing ; but the consequences thereof will abide for ever. 
Therefore, for the Lord's sake, away with formality ; no 
more drowsy eyes or wandering thoughts. Oh, when you 
come to attend upon the ministry of the gospel, that such 
thoughts as these may prepare your minds : The word I am 
going to hear will quicken or kill, save or condemn my soul ; 
if I sit dead under it, and return barren from it, I shall wish 
one day that I had never seen the face nor heard the voice 
of the minister who preached it. 

4. What a dreadful condition are all those in ivho 
are enemies to the gospel and those who 'preach it : who, 
instead of embracing and obeying the message of the gospel, 
reject and despise it ; instead of opening their hearts to re- 
ceive it, open their blasphemous mouths to deride it, and 
hiss it, if it were possible, out of the world. Ah -tfhat a 
book of remembrance is written for such men. I fear that 
never, since Christianity blessed this nation, was there an 
age more deeply drenched in the guilt of this sin than the 
present. How are the messengers of the gospel slighted and 
rejected ! Y^hat have we done to deserve it ? Ts not our 



20 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

case this day much like that of the prophet ? " Shall evil 
be recompensed for good ? for they have digged a pit for my 
soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for 
them, and to turn away thy wrath from them." Jer. 18 : 20. 
What brutish madness hath possessed the souls of these 
men ! But alas, it is not so much they, as Satan acting in 
^them ; he is a jealous prince, the gospel alarms him, his sub- 
jects are in danger of revolting from him : no wonder, there- 
fore, he makes an outcry at the preaching of the gospel, as is 
usually made when an enemy invades a kingdom. In this 
case Christ directs his ministers to shake off the dust of their 
feet for a testimony against them. Mark 6:11. The mean- 
ing of which is this, that as you shake off the dust of your 
feet, even so Jesus Christ will shake off those men who de- 
spise the gospel and abuse his messengers. 

5. Hence it likewise follows, that the case of the hea- 
then ivorld icill be easier in the day of judgment, than 
theirs who live and die unregenerate and disobedient under 
the gospel of Christ. There are more witnesses prepared, 
and records filed against the day of your account, than can 
possibly be against them : they have abused but one talent, 
the light of nature ; but we thousands, even as many as we 
have had opportunities and calls under the gospel. Upon 
this account Christ saith, " Whosoever shall not receive you, 
nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or 
city, shake off the dust of your feet. Yerily, I say unto you, 
it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Go- 
morrah, in the day of judgment, than for that city." Matt 
10 : 14, 15. 

Ah, what a fearful aggravation does it put on our sin 
and misery, that we are not only accountable for all the 
light we had, but for all that we might have had in the 
gospel-day. Capernaum was lifted up to heaven in the en- 
joyment of means and precious opportunities, Matt. 11 : 23 ; 
and had an answerable downfall into the depth of misery 



OFFERS OF MERCY. 21 

from that height of mercy; as the higher any one is lifted 

up upon a rack, the more terrible is the injury he i 
by the fall. 

6. We may also infer, that the day of judgment 
must take up a vast space of time. God will bring every 
thing into judgment, Eccl. 12 : 14 : not only sinful actions, 
but words, Matt. 12 : 36 ; not only words, but heart-secrets. 
Rom. 2:16. If all the records and registers now made 
shall then be opened and read, all the witnesses for or 
against every man examined and heard, judge then what a 
vast space of time will that great day take up. This is 
sure, things will not be huddled up, nor shuffled over in 
haste ; you have taken your time for sinning, and God will 
take his time for judging. 

Consider the multitudes, multitudes without number, 
who are to be judged in that day, even all the posterity of 
Adam, which are as the sand upon the sea-shore ; that not 
only so many persons, but all that they have done, must 
come into judgment, even the very thoughts of their hearts 
which never came to the knowledge of men; their consciences 
to be interrogated, and all other witnesses fully heard : how 
great a day must this day of the Lord be. 

But the main use of this point will be for exhortation. 
that seeing all the offers of Christ are recorded and wit 
nessed, with respect to a day of account, every one of you 
would immediately embrace the present gracious tender of 
Christ in the gospel, as you hope to be acquitted in that 
great day : take, heed of denials, nay, even of delays; "for 
if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every trans- 
gression and disobedience received a just recompense of re- 
ward : how shall we escape if we neglect so great salva- 
tion?" Heb. 2 : 2, 3. The question is put, but no answer 
made : " How shall we escape ?" The wisdom of men and 
angels cannot tell how. To enforce this exhortation, I shaP 



22 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

present you with ten weighty considerations, which may the 
Lord follow home, by the blessing of his Spirit on all your 
hearts. 

1 . Consider how invaluable a mercy it is that you are 
yet ivithin the reach of offered grace. The mercies set 
before you this day, were never set before the angels who 
fell ; no Mediator was ever appointed for them. aston- 
ishing mercy ! that those vessels of gold should be cast into 
everlasting fire, and that such clay vessels as we are, should 
be thus put into a capacity of greater happiness than ever 
they fell from; nay, the mercy offered to you is not only de- 
nied to the angels that fell, but to the greatest part of your 
fellow-creatures of the same rank and dignity with you : 
" He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judg- 
ments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation : 
and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise 
ye the Lord." Psalm 147 : 19, 20. A mercy deservedly 
celebrated with a joyful Alleluia. What vast tracts are 
there in the world where the name of Christ is unknown ; 
it is your special mercy to be born in a land of Bibles and 
ministers, wher.e it is as difficult for you to avoid the light, 
as it is for others to behold and enjoy it. 

8. Consider the nature, weight, and worth of the mer- 
cies which are this day freely offered you. Certainly they 
are mercies of the first rank, the most precious and neces- 
sary among all the mercies of God. Christ the first-born of 
mercies, and in him pardon, peace, and eternal salvation are 
set before you : it would be surprising to see a starving man 
refuse offered bread, or a condemned man a gracious pardon. 
Lord, what a compound of sloth and stupidity are we, that 
we should need so many entreaties to be happy. 

9. Consider who it is that makes these gracious tenders 
of pardon, peace, and salvation, to you; even that God 
whom you have so deeply wronged, whose laws you have 
violated, whose mercies you have spurned, and whose wrath 



>F M EEC i . 23 

you hare justly u His patience groans under the 

burden of your daily provocations: ho loses nothing it' you 
are lost, ami reoeives no benefit if you arc bj i- the 

iirsl motions oi' mercy and salvation to you freely an 
of his grace and good pleasure. God entreats you to be 
reconciled. 2 Cor. 5 : 20. The blessed Lord Jesus, whose 
blood thy sins have shed, now freely oilers that blood lor thy 
reconciliation, justification, and salvation, if thou wilt but 
sincerely accept him ere it be too late. 

10. Reflect serious/// upon your own v Lioness, to ivhom 
such gracious offers of peace and mercy are made. Thy 
sins have set thee at as great a distance from the hope of 
pardon, as any sinner in the world. Consider, man, what 
thou hast been, what thou hast done, and what vast heaps 
of guilt thou hast contracted by a life of sin ; and yet, that 
unto thee pardon and peace should be offered in Christ after 
such a life of rebellion, how astonishing is the mercy. The 
Lord is ready to pass by all thy former rebellions, thy deep- 
dyed transgressions, and to sign an act of oblivion for all that 
is past, if now at last thy heart relents for sin, and thy will 
bows in obedience to the great commands and calls of the 
gospel. Isa. 55 : 2 ; 1:18. 

11. Consider hoio many offers of mercy you have 
already refused, and that every refusal is recorded against 
you; how long you have tried, and even tired the patience 
of God already, and that this may be the last overture of 
grace that ever God will make to your soul. Certainly 
there is an offer that will be the last offer, a striving of the 
Spirit which will be his last striving ; and after that, no 
more offers without you, no more motions or strivings within 
you for evermore. The treaty is then ended, and your last 
neglect or rejection of Christ recorded against the day of 
your account ; and what if this should prove to be that last 
tender of grace which must conclude the treaty between 
Christ and you ? what an undone wretch must you then be, 



24 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOH. 

with whom so gracious a treaty breaks off upon such dread- 
ful terms. 

12. Consider icell the reasonable and gracious nature 
of the gospel-terms on which life and pardon are offered 
to you. Acts 20 : 21. The gospel requires of you repent- 
ance and faith. Can you think it hard when a prince jar- 
dons a rebel, to require him to fall on his knees, and stretch 
forth a willing and thankful hand to receive his pardon ? 
Your repentance and faith are much of the same nature. 
Here is no legal satisfaction required at your hands, no repa- 
ration of the injured law by your doings or sufferings ; but a 
hearty sorrow for sins committed, sincere purposes and en- 
deavors after new obedience, and a hearty, thankful accept- 
ance of Christ your Saviour ; and for your encouragement 
herein, his Spirit stands ready to work in you all that you 
need. "Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out 
my Spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto 
you." Prov. 1 : 23. " Thou also hast wrought all our 
works hi us." Isa. 26 : 12. 

13. Consider how your way to Christ, by repentance 
and faith, has been travelled before you by thousands of sin- 
ners for your encouragement. You are not the first that ever 
ventured Ins soul in this path ; multitudes have gone before 
you, and that under as much guilt, fear, and discouragement 
as you can pretend to ; and not a man among them was re- 
pulsed or discouraged : here they have found rest and peace 
to their weary souls. Heb. 4:3; Acts 13 : 39. Here the 
greatest sinners have been set forth for an ensample to you 
that should afterwards believe on his name. 1 Tim. 1:16. 
You see, if you will not, others will joyfully accept the offers 
of Christ. What discouragements have you that they had not ; 
or what greater encouragements had they which God has not 
given you this day ? therefore they shall be your judges. 

14. Consider the great hazard of the precious seasons 
you now enjoy. Opportunity is the golden spot of time, but 



Of v BUS OF 1CEBCY. 26 

it is a very slippery and uncertain thing : great and manifold 
are the hazards attending it. Your life is uncertain, your 
breath continually going in your nostrils ; and that which is 

:y moment going, will be gone at last. The gospel is as 
uncertain as your life ; God hath made no such settlement 
of it, but lhat he may at pleasure remove it, and will cer- 
tainly do so if we thus trifle under it : it is but a candlestick, 
though a golden one, Rev. 2:5, and that you all know is 
a movable thing. Not only your life, and the means of your 
eternal life, I mean the gospel, are uncertain ; but even the 
motions and strivings of the Spirit with your soul are as un- 
certain as either. " Work out your own salvation with fear 
and trembling ; for it is God which worketh in you both to 
will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2 : 12, 13. That 
God now works with you is matter of great encouragement 
to your work ; but that he works at his own pleasure, as a 
free agent who can cease when he pleases and never give 
one knock at your heart more, should make you work with 
fear and trembling. 

15. Think ivhat a fearful aggravation it ivill be both 
of%your sin and misery, to perish in the sight of an offered 
remedy ; to sink into hell between the outstretched arms of 
a compassionate Redeemer, that would have gathered you, 
but you w r ould not. Heathens, yea, devils will upbraid you 
in hell for such unaccountable folly and desperate madness ; 
heathens will say, "Alas, we had but the dim light of na- 
ture, which did indeed discover sin, but not Christ the rem- 
edy. Ah, had your preachers and your Bibles been sent 
among us, how gladly would we have embraced them." 
God said to Ezekiel, " Surely, had I sent thee to them, they 
would have hearkened unto thee." Ezek. 3:6. See also 
Matt. 11 : 21. The very devils will upbraid you: "0 if 
God had sent a Mediator in our nature, we would not have 
rejected him as you have done;" but "he took not on him 
the nature of angels." 

Christ Knoci 2 



26 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

16. How just, as ivell as sure, will your condemnation 
be in the great day, against ivhom such a cloud of witnesses 
will appear. how manifest will the righteousness of God 
be ; men and angels shall applaud the sentence, and your 
own consciences shall acknowledge the equity of it. You 
that are Christless now, will be speechless then. Matt. 
22 : 12. " Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we per- 
suade men." 2 Cor. 5:11. I tremble to think of being 
summoned as a witness against any of your souls. that 
I may be your rejoicing, and you mine in the day of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 



CHK 1ST I N II [8 OB.D] NAN-' I 21 



CHAPTER II. 

THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN HIS 
ORD1.N A\« 

"BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK." Rkv. 3:20. 

Having pondered Christ's solemn preface to his earnest 
suit, the next thing which comes under our consideration, is 
tlie ])crso?i soliciting and pleading for admission into the 
hearts of sinners, which is Christ himself. 

11 Behold, I stand*." The only difficulty here is rightly 
to apprehend the manner of Christ's presence in gospel 
administrations ; for it is manifest that the person of Christ 
was at this time in heaven : his bodily presence was removed 
from this lower world above sixty years before this epistle 
was written to the Laodiceans. John's banishment into 
Patmos is, by Eusebius, out of Irenseus and Clemens Alex- 
andrinus, placed in the fourteenth year of the reign of the 
emperor Domitian, and under his second persecution, which 
was about the ninety-seventh year from the birth of 
Christ. 

Yet here he saith, "Behold, I stand ;" not my messengers 
and ministers only, but I by my spiritual presence among 
you ; I your sovereign Lord and owner, who have all right 
and authority by creation and redemption to possess and 
dispose of your souls ; it is I that stand at the door and 
knock, I by my Spirit, soliciting and moving by the ministry 
of men. You see hone but men ; but believe it, I am really 
and truly, though spiritually and invisibly, present in alJ 
those administrations: all those knocks, motions, and solici- 
tations, are truly mine ; they are my acts, and I own them, 
and so I would have you to conceive and apprehend them 
Hence the second doctrine is this : 



28 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

Jesus Christ is truly present with men in his ordi- 
nances, and hath to clo with them, and they with him, 
though he be not visible to their carnal eyes. 

Thus runs the promise : " Where two or three are gath- 
ered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 
Matt. 18 : 20. The middle place in the Jewish assemblies, 
was the seat of the president, where he might equally hear 
and be heard of all. So, saith Jesus, will I be in the midst 
of the assemblies of the faithful, met together in my name 
and by my authority, to bless, guide, and protect them. 
Hence the church is called the place of his feet, Isaiah 
60 : 13 ; a manifest allusion to the ark, called God's foot- 
stool. Psalm 99:5. And agreeably hereunto, Christ is said 
to walk among the seven golden candlesticks. Rev. 2:1. 
There are the spiritual walks of Christ ; there he converses 
and communes with men. And this presence of Christ was 
not the peculiar privilege of the first churches, but is com- 
mon to all the churches of the saints to the end of the 
world, as appears by that glorious promise so comfortably 
extended to the church from first to last : " Lo, I am with 
you always, even to the end of the world." Matt. 28 : 20. 
This promise is the ground of all our faith and expectation 
of benefit from ordinances ; and the subjects of it are not 
here considered personally, but officially ; to you, and all 
that succeed you in the same work and office ; not to you 
only as extraordinary, but to all the succeeding ordinary 
standing officers in my church. As for the apostles, neither 
their life nor their extraordinary office was to continue 
long, but this promise was to continue " to the end of the 
world." 

Nor is this promise made absolutely, but conditionally ; 
tlia connection of the promise with the command enforces 
this qualified sense : " The Lord is with you, while ye be 
with him." 2 Chron. 15:2. Ignorant, idle, unqualified 
persons cannot claim the benefit of this gracious grant. 



CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 29 

Once more, this promise is made to every hour and in in 
ute of time. I am with you " all the days," as it is in the 
Greek text ; in dark and dangerous, as well as peaceahle and 
encouraging days : and it is closed with a solemn amen, so 
be if, or so it shall be. 

To open this point distinctly, we are to consider that 
there is a threefold presence of Christ. 

1. There is a corporeal presence of Christ, which the 
church once enjoyed on earth, when he went in and out 
among his people, Acts 1:21; when their eyes saw him, 
and their hands handled him. 1 John, 1:1. This pres- 
ence was a great consolation to the disciples, and therefore 
they were much dejected when it w r as about to be removed 
from them. But after his work was finished on earth, this 
bodily presence was no longer necessary to be continued in 
this world, but to be removed to heaven, John 16:7; as 
indeed it was, and must there abide until the time of the 
restitution of all things. Acts 3 : 21. And in this respect 
he tells the disciples, " I leave the world, and go to the 
Father." John 16 : 28. 

2. There is a represented presence of Christ in ordi- 
nances. As the person of a king is represented in another 
country by his ambassadors, so is Christ in this world by 
his ministers : " We are ambassadors for Christ, as though 
God did beseech you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, 
be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. o : 20. Christ is engaged 
in other work for us in heaven, but we stand in his stead on 
earth. And this shows the great dignity of the ministerial 
office : whatever abuse or contempt is cast on ministers, it 
reflects upon Christ* : " He that despiseth you, despiseth me." 
Luke 10:16. It also teaches us whence is the validity of 
gospel administrations. Christ ratifies and confirms them 
with his own authority. It also instructs us how wise, 
spiritual, and holy, ministers should be, who represent Christ 
to the world. A drunkard, a persecutor, a sensual world- 



30 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

ling, is but an ill representative of the blessed and holy 

Jesus. 

3. Besides these two, there is a spiritual presence of 
Christ in the churches and ordinances ; and this presence of 
Christ by his Spirit, who is his vicegerent or representative, 
is to be considered as that from which all gospel ordinances 
derive their beauty and glory, their power and efficacy, their 
awful solemnity, and their continuance and stability. 

(1.) From the presence of Christ by his Spirit, the ordi- 
nances and churches derive their beauty and glory: "To 
see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the 
sanctuary." Psalm 63 : 2. 

As the beauty of the body results from the soul which 
animates it ; and when the soul is gone, the beauty of the 
body is gone also ; so the beauty and glory of all ordinances 
come and go with the Spirit of Christ, which is the very 
soul of them. The churches are indeed golden candlesticks, 
but the candlestick has no light but what the candle gives 
it ; hence that magnificent description of the new temple is 
closed up in this expression : " The name of the city from 
that day shall be, The Lord is there." Ezek. 48 : 35. 

(2.) From this spiritual presence of Christ, gospel-ordi- 
nances derive all the power and efficacy which is by them 
exerted upon the souls of men, either in their conversion or 
edification. This power is not inherent in them, nor do they 
act as natural, necessary agents, but as instituted means, 
which are successful or unsuccessful according as Christ by 
his Spirit cooperates with them : " So then, neither is he that 
planteth any thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that 
giveth the increase." 1 Cor. 3 : 7. That is, they are noth- 
ing to the accomplishment of men's salvation, without the 
concurrence of the Spirit of Christ. For when the apostle 
makes himself and Apollos, with all other ministers, nothing, 
we must understand him as speaking comparatively and rel- 
atively ; they are necessary in their places, and sufficient in 



CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 31 

their kind for what they are appointed to, else it would be 
a reflection on the wisdom of God that instituted them : but 
in themselves they are nothing ; as a trumpet or wind instru- 
ment is nothing as to its use, except breath be inspired into 
it, and that breath modulated by the skill of the inspirer • 
like Ezekiel's wheels, that moved not but as the Spirit that 
was in them moved and directed their motions. If ordi- 
nances wrought upon souls naturally and necessarily, as the 
fire burns, they could not fail of success on all that come 
under them. But it is with them as with the waters of the 
pool at Bethesda, whose healing virtue was only found at the 
season when the angel descended and troubled them. 

(3.) This spiritual presence of Christ gives the ordi- 
nances of the gospel the aivful solemnity which is due upon 
that account to them. The presence of Christ in them 
commands reverence from all that are about him. " God is 
greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be 
had in reverence of all them that are about him," Psalm 
89 : 7 ; hence is that solemn caution or threatening, "If ye 
will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk 
contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary unto you.' , 
Lev. 26 : 23, 24. The Hebrew word signifies to walk rashly 
with God, without considering with whom we have to do, 
and what an awful majesty we stand before. And the pun- 
ishment is suitable to the sin : I also will walk at an adven- 
ture with you, making no discrimination in my judgments 
between your persons and the persons of the worst of men 
that this were duly considered by all that have to do with 
God in gospel-institutions. 

(4.) It is the spiritual presence of Christ in his churches 
and ordinances which gives them their continuance and 
stability. Whenever the Spirit of Christ departs from them, 
it will not be long before they depart from us ; or if they 
should not, their continuance will be little to our advantage 
When the glory of the Lord descended from between the 



32 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

cherubims, when that sad voice was heard in the temple. 
"Let us go hence," how soon were both city and temple 
made a desolation; and truly Christ's presence is not so 
fixed to any place or ordinances, but the sins of the people 
may banish it away. Rev. 2 : 5. Who will tarry in any 
place longer than he is welcome, if he have anywhere else 
to go ? 

But more particularly, let us here discuss these two 
points : How it appears Christ is thus spiritually present with 
his churches and ordinances ; and why it is necessary he 
should be so. 

I. By what evidence does it appear that there is such a 
presence of Christ with his churches and ordinances ? And 
this will appear by two undeniable evidences. 

1 . From their wonderful preservation ; for it is wholly 
inconceivable, how the churches, ministers, and ordinances 
should be supported and preserved without it, amidst such 
hosts of powerful and enraged enemies. If Christ were not 
among them, they had certainly been swallowed up long ago. 
It is he who holds the stars in his right hand. Rev. 2:1. 
His walking among the seven golden candlesticks is their 
best security. The burning bush is a rare emblem to open 
this mystery ; the bush burned with fire, but was not con- 
sumed. Exod. 3:3. The bush was a resemblance of the 
church of God in Egypt, the flames upon it were their ter- 
rible persecution ; the wonder, that no ashes appeared as the 
effects of those terrible flames ; the reason whereof was, God 
was in the bush — Jesus Christ was in the midst of his 
people. 

By virtue of his presence we are here this day, in the 
enjoyment of gospel liberty, no society of men in the world 
have such security as the church has on this account. The 
mightiest monarchies have been overturned, no policies nor 
human power could preserve them ; but the church and 
ordinances are still preserved, and shall ever be, by virtue of 



CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 33 

that gracious promise, "For I am with thee, saith the Lord, 
to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations 
whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a lull 
end of thee." Jer. 30 : 11. Babylonian, Persian, and Gre- 
cian monarchies have destroyed and ruined one another, hut 
still the church of Christ lifts up its head, and beholds theii 
ruins. 

2. This presence of Christ in and with his ordinances, is 
undeniably evinced from their supernatural effects upon the 
souls of men. " The weapons of our warfare are not car- 
nal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong 
holds." 2 Cor. 10 : 4. The Spirit of Christ gives them 
their success and efficacy ; the sword of the gospel has its 
point and edge, but it is impossible that the heart of a stupid, 
hardened sinner should ever be wounded by it, if the Spirit 
of Christ do not direct it. When sinners fall down convinced 
ander the authority of the word, they feel and readily ac 
knowledge that God is hi it of a truth. 1 Cor. 14 : 25 
Ruffinus reports, that at the council of Nice, a godly man of 
no great learning was the instrument of converting a learned 
philosopher, whom the bishops, with all their arguments, 
could not persuade ; of which the philosopher himself gave 
this remarkable account: " While you reasoned with me," 
said he, " against words I opposed words, and what was 
spoken I overthrew by the art of speaking ; but when in- 
stead of words power came out of the mouth of the speaker, 
words could no longer withstand truth, nor man resist the 
power of God." 

And this, indeed, is the true and just account of all those 
marvellous and gracious changes made on the souls of men 
by the preaching of the gospel. Can the vanishing breath 
of a dying man, think you, inspire spiritual and eternal life 
into the souls of other men ? Can he search the conscience, 
break the heart, and bow the will at this rate ? JN'o, this is 
the power and operation of Christ ; and of that presence, 

2* 



34 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

says Mr. Burgess, we must say as Martha did to her Saviour 
concerning the death of her brother Lazarus, "Lord, if thou 
hadst been here, my brother had not died." John 11 : 21. 
So say I, if that presence and power of Christ were felt by 
all, which has been certainly experienced by many, they 
would not remain in the state of spiritual death as they do. 
But though there are thousands under ordinances who never 
felt this power of Christ upon them, yet, blessed be God, there 
are also multitudes of witnesses and evidences of this truth, 
that there is a real, spiritual, energetic presence of Christ 
in his own appointments ; which was the first thing to be 
evinced. 

II. We inquire into the reasons, or the uses and 
ends which make such a presence of Christ necessary. 
And they are, 

1. To preserve and support his ministers and churches 
amidst such hosts of poicerful and enraged enemies. This 
presence of Christ is as a wall of fire round about them. 
The divine presence with Jeremiah was as a life-guard to 
him against the rage of the princes and nobles of Israel : 
"I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen wall; 
and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail 
against thee : for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver 
thee, saith the Lord. And I will deliver thee out of the 
hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand 
of the terrible." Jer. 15 : 20, 21. 

It was easier for the Roman army to scale the walls and 
batter down the towers of Jerusalem, than for all the ene- 
mies in that city to destroy the prophet of God, thus guarded 
by the divine presence. Athanasius and Luther had the 
power of the empire engaged against them, yet the presence 
of Christ was their security. The witnesses could not be 
slain till they had finished their testimony. Rev. 11:7. 
To this presence alone the faithful witnesses of Christ owe 
their marvellous preservation at this day; had not Christ 



CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 35 

«aid, "Lo, I am with you," you bad not said at this day, 
"Behold, our ministers are still with us." 

2. The presence of Christ is necessary to assist his min- 
isters in their icork, for it is a work quite above their own 
itrength. It is well that we are workers together with God, 
else we should soon faint under our labors. "When Moses 
objected, " I am not eloquent," the Lord told him, " I will be 
with thy mouth." Exod. 4 : 10, 12. When God guides 
the tongue, how powerful and persuasive must the language 
be. When the apostles, illiterate men, were sent out to 
convert the world, Christ promised to give them " a mouth 
and wisdom," Luke 21 : 15 — a mouth to speak, and wisdom 
to guide that mouth ; and then their words were demonstra- 
tions ; all their adversaries could not resist the spirit and 
power by which they spoke. Empires and kingdoms full of 
enemies received the gospel ; but the reason of this wonder- 
ful success is given us : " They went forth and preached 
everywhere, the Lord working with them." Mark 16 : 20. 
It is sweet and prosperous working in fellowship with 
Christ ; the Spirit of Christ gives a manifold assistance to 
his ministers in their work ; it is he who directs their mind 
in the choice of those subjects wherein they labor with such 
success to their hearers. He dictates the matter, influences 
their affections, guides their lips, and follows home their 
doctrine with success. This is a special use and end of 
Christ's presence with his ministers and ordinances. 

3. The spiritual presence of Christ is necessary for the 
preparation and opening of the people's heart to receive 
and embrace tlie gospel to salvation. Not a heart will open 
to receive Christ till the Spirit of Christ unlock it. Paul 
and Timothy were extraordinarily called to preach the gos- 
pel at Philippi, and there Lydia was converted. But how? 
Not by their skill or eloquence, but hy the Spirit's influence ; 
che Lord opened the heart of Lydia. Acts 16 : 14. The 
church could not be increased without conversion ; conver- 



36 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOH. 

sion could never be wrought without Christ's influence and 
spiritual presence. So that this presence is of absolute 
necessity ; the church cannot subsist, nor the great ends of 
ordinances be attained without it. 

Inference 1. Is Christ really present in all gospel ad- 
ministrations? hoiv aivfully solemn, then, is every part of 
gospel ivor ship. We have to do with Christ himself, and 
not with men only, in gospel ordinances. Happy were it if, 
under this consideration, all our people received the word we 
preach as the Thessalonians did, not as the word of man 
but as the word of God. 1 Thess. 2 : 13. Then it would 
work effectually in us as it did in them. But alas, we have 
low apprehensions of the word ; we come to judge the gifts 
of the speaker, not to have our minds informed, our con- 
sciences searched, our lusts mortified, and our lives regu- 
lated. But that men would realize the presence of 
Christ in ordinances, and seriously consider that word of his, 
" All the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth 
the reins and hearts ; and I will give unto every one of you 
according to your works." Hev. 2 : 23. 

How would this lead vain and wandering hearts to holy 
seriousness. if men would consider that they are before 
the Lord Jesus Christ, as Cornelius and his family did : 
"Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear 
all things that are commanded thee of God," Acts 10 : 33 ; if 
they would consider the word as the executioner of God's 
eternal decrees, which returns not in vain, but accomplishes 
that whereunto God sends it, Isa. 55 : 11, and eventually 
proves the savor of life or death eternal to them who sit 
under it, 2 Cor. 2 : 16 ; in a word, were it but considered 
as the rule by which its hearers shall be judged in the great 
day, John 12:48, then how would men tremble at the 
word. What mighty effects would it have on their hearts. 
How would it run and be glorified. But alas, as Job speaks, 
' He goeth by me, and I see him not : he passeth on also, 



CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 37 

but I perceive him not." Job 9 : 11. Few realize the 
spiritual presence of Christ in ordinances. 

2. If Christ be really present with his churches and 
ordinances, hoiv vain arc all altcjnjrts of enemies to subvert 
and destroy them. That promise, Matt. 28 : 20, supposes 
the continuance of a gospel and church-ministry to the end 
of the world, else there would be a promise without a sub- 
ject : as there ought to be a church, so there si call be a 
church with ministers and ordinances, let Satan and anti- 
christ do their worst. I do not say this promise secures this 
or that particular church or nation, for the presence of Christ 
may cease to be realized in any one place ; but still, the 
church is safe. And there are three things which secure it 
against all hazards. 

(1.) The invaluable treasures God has lodged in the 
church, namely, his truths, his worship, and his elect ; such 
a precious cargo secures the vessel which carries it, what- 
ever storms or tempests may befall it. 

(2.) The covenant and promise of God ivith the church 
is its abundant security : " Upon this rock will I build my 
church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
Matt. 16 : 18. The faithfulness of God is pledged for his 
people's security. If the church fail, his faithfulness must 
fail with it. 

(3.) But above all, the presence of Christ in the midst 
of the church, puts it out of all danger of failure. In that 
promise, " Lo, I am with you always," are found all muni- 
tions and fortifications whatsoever. Here we have his eye 
of providence, his hand of power, and whatever else is need- 
ful to support and secure it. God accounts his presence our 
safety. Isa. 41 : 10. The enemies of God and his people 
account it so too, Exod. 14 : 25 ; and shall it not be so in 
our account ? Provoke not the Lord Jesus to withdraw his 
presence, and fear not the consultations and oppositions of 
hell or earth. 



S8 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

3. From this spiritual presence of Christ all his faithful 
ministers should draw encouragement, amidst the manifold 
difficulties and discouragements they daily encou?iter in 
his service. Christ is with them, and they work in fellow- 
ship with him ; let them not be dismayed. The difficulties 
and discouragements which the ministers of Christ meet 
are great and manifold ; and the more faithful and success- 
ful any of them are in their Master's work, the fiercer oppo- 
sition they must expect. Besides all the discouragements 
rising out of their own hearts, which are not a few, they 
must encounter the opposition of enemies from abroad, and 
the stubbornness of the hearts they work upon. Satan is a 
jealous prince, and will raise all manner of outcries and 
opposition against those heavenly heralds who come to pro- 
claim a new prince in his dominions, and withdraw his mis- 
erable subjects from their cursed allegiance to him. What 
is it to preach the gospel, saith Luther, but to drive the fury 
of the world upon the head of the preacher? But this 
would be easily supportable, did our work but prosper upon 
the hearts of our hearers. But this, alas, is the killing con- 
sideration of all ; we know the worth of souls, and how great 
a service it is to save them from death. James 5 : 20. We 
also know the terrors of the Lord, which excite our utmost 
endeavors to persuade men. 2 Cor. 5:11. We feel the 
compassions of Christ stirring within us, which makes us 
long after their salvation. Phil. 1 : 8. We preach, we 
pray, yea, we travail again, as it were, hi birth until Christ 
be formed in them. Gal. 4 : 19. And when we have done 
all, we find their hearts as iron and brass. Jer. 6 : 28. 
W e mourn in secret when we cannot prevail, and often our 
hands hang down with discouragement, and we are ready to 
say with the prophet, « I will not make mention of him, nor 
speak any more in his name." Jer. 20 : 9. But here is 
our relief, under all discouragements : the work is Christ's, 
the power is his, he is with us, and we are workers to-ethei 



CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. 39 

with him. There was a time when three thousand m 
were born to Christ during one sermon ; it may be now, three 
thousand sermons may be preached, and not one soul be con- 
verted : yet, let us not be discouraged; a time of eminent 
conversion is promised, and to he expected in these latter days, 
when the living waters of the gospel shall make every thing 
to live whither they come, Ezek. 47 : 9 ; and when the 
fishers, that is, the ministers of Christ, shall not fish with 
hooks as they now do, taking now r one, then another single 
convert, but shall spread forth their nets, and inclose multi- 
tudes at a draught — when they shall "fly as a cloud, and 
as the doves to their windows." Isa. 60 : 8. God now 
opens a door of opportunity beyond our expectation ; that 
the hearts of ministers and people were suitably enlarged, 
and the people made willing in the day of his power. 

4. Hence, we also infer the great dignity of the minis 
terial office, and the suitable respect due to all Christ's 
faithful ministers. The Lord Jesus himself is represented 
by them, they stand in his stead, 2 Cor. 5 : 20 ; his author- 
ity is put upon them: the honor and dishonor given them 
redound to the person of Christ. The Galatians received 
Paul as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Gal. 4 : 14. 
Yet how have their persons and office been vilified and 
despised in this degenerate age ; how many learned, pious, 
laborious, peaceful ministers of Christ have, in this age, been 
hunted up and down in the w r orld as wild beasts, and been 
made the filth and ofTscouring of all things. 1 Cor. 4 : 13. 
The word signifies the filth which scavengers rake together 
in the streets, to be carried to the dunghill. 'No doubt but 
Satan designs in this to invalidate their ministry, discourage 
their labors, and break their hearts ; but Jesus Christ will 
support us under all these abuses, wipe off the dirt thrown 
at us for his name's sake, and reserve some of us for better 
days. 

5. Is Christ present in his ordinances? what a strong 



40 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

engagement then lies upon you all to wait assiduously upon 
the ministry of the icord, and to bring all that are capable 
to wait upon Christ with you. We read in the days of 
Christ's flesh, when he performed his miraculous cures upon 
the sick, what thronging there was after him ; how parents 
brought their children, masters their servants, pressing in 
multitudes, uncovering the house to let down their sick to 
him. Luke 5:19; 12:1. Ah, shall men he so earnest 
for a cure for their "bodies, and so indifferent for their souls ? 
It is true, the Spirit of Christ is not laid under any necessity 
to act always with the word : he acts as a free agent, " The 
wind hloweth where it listeth," John 3:8; hut it is encour- 
agement enough to wait continually upon his ord*nanees, 
that he sometimes graciously and effectually works with 
them. It is good to lie in the path of the Spirit ; and there 
is a "blessing pronounced upon them who wait continually at 
his gates. Prov. 8 : 34. therefore neglect no opportunity 
within your reach ; for who knows hut it may he the season 
of life to thy soul. 

6. What an unspeakable loss is the loss of the gospel f 
seeing the presence of Christ comes and goes with it. "When 
the gospel departs, the Spirit of Christ departs with it from 
among men; no more conversions, in God's ordinary way, 
are then to he expected : well therefore might the Lord say, 
" Woe also to them when I depart from them." Hosea 
9 : 12. The Spirit may, in some sense, depart, while the 
ordinances are left standing for a time among the people ; 
but we can then expect no benefit from them. But when 
God takes away ordinances and the Spirit too, woe indeed 
to that people. Where then are the fruits answerable to our 
precious means? The gospel is a golden lamp, and the 
graces of the Spirit communicated by it are golden oil, as in 
that stately vision, Zech. 4. Will God maintain such a 
lamp, fed with such precious oil, for men to trifle and play 
by ? And no less ominous and portentous is that bitter 



CHRIST IN HIS ORDINANCES. -11 

enmity to the gospel and the serious professors of it, which 
is too often found among us ; this great hatred brings on the 
days of visitation and the days of recompense with a swift 

ami dreadful motion upon any people. Hosca 9:7. 

7. It" Christ be present by his Spirit and energy in his 
ordinances, there is no reason to despair of the conversion 

arid salvation of the greatest sinners that yet lie dead under 
the gospel. What though their hearts he hard, their under- 
standings dark, and their wills never so perverse and obsti- 
nate ? all must give way, and open in the day of Christ's 
power, when his Spirit joins himself with the word. This 
makes it an irresistible word ; it is glorious to observe the 
hearts of publicans and harlots opening and yielding to the 
voice of Christ. Matt. 21 :31. Who were those three 
thousand peisons, pricked to the heart by Peter's sermon, 
Acts 2 : 36, but the very men that, with wicked hands, 
had crucified the Lord Jesus ? And what were the con- 
verted Corinthians but idolaters, turned from dumb idols, 
whoremongers, adulterers, effeminate, and such like persons ? 
1 Cor. 12 : 2 ; 6:11. God has his elect among the vilest of 
men : the gospel will find them out, and draw them home 
to Christ, when the Spirit animates and blesses it. Well 
might the apostle therefore say, that the gospel preached 
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, is an object 
worthy for angels to behold with admiration. 1 Pet. 1 : 12. 
What though Satan has strongly fortified their souls agahist 
Christ with ignorance, prejudice, and enmity, the weapons 
of our warfare are mighty through God, to pull down these 
strong holds. Despair not therefore of your sinful and dead- 
hearted relatives ; bring them to the gospel on the encour- 
agement of these words of Christ, " The hour is coming, and 
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God ; and they that hear shall live." John 5 : 25. 

8. Is Christ spiritually present in his ordinances ? 
then ivhat an endeared affection should every gracious send 



42 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

bear to the ordinances of God. They are the walks of 
Christ and of his Spirit, the appointed times and places for 
your meeting and communion with him ; there your souls 
first met with Christ ; there you began your acquaintance 
with him ; there you have had many sweet interviews with 
him since that day ; they were the means oi your regenera- 
tion, 1 Pet. 1 : 23, the bread of life by which your souls have 
been sustained ever since, and therefore to be more esteemed 
by you than your necessary food. Job 23 : 12. Here you 
have found the richest cordials to revive your drooping 
spirits, when ready to faint under sin within you and afflic- 
tions upon you. No wonder David's soul even fainted for 
the courts of God, Psalm 84 : 2, and that Hezekiah desired a 
sign on his sick-bed, that he should go up to the house of the 
Lord. Isa. 38 : 22. Here are the choicest comforts of the 
saints upon earth ; all our fresh springs are in Zion. Psalm 
88 : 7. What a dungeon, what a barren wilderness were 
this world without them. Prize the ordinances, love the 
ordinances, wait assiduously on the ordinances, and pray for 
the liberty and efficacy of the gospel, that it may continue 
and increase in your days and in the days of your posterity. 



THE HEART CLOSED 43 

CHAPTER III 

THE HEART BARRED AGAINST CHRIST 

"BEHOLD, / STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK." Rev. 3:20. 

Having finished Christ's solemn preface, and shown the 
manner of his presence in his churches and ordinances, I 
now come to a third doctrine which is necessarily implied in 
these words, " Behold, I stand at the door and knock ;" and 
the sad truth therein implied is this : 

The hearts of men are naturally locked, and fast barred 
against Jesus Christ their only Saviour. 

If it were not so, what need were there of all the pains 
and patience exercised by Christ in waiting and knocking 
importunately for entrance into the hearts of men ? To 
keep a clear method in this point, three things must be 
stated in the doctrinal part : How it appears that the hearts 
of men are thus shut up ; what are those locks and bars that 
shut them up ; and that no power of man can remove these 
bars. Let us consider, 

I. How it appears that the hearts of men are thus shut 
up. That all hearts are naturally shut and made fast 
against Christ, is a sad but certain truth; we read, John 
1 : 11, "He came unto his own, and his own received him 
not." He came unto his own people, from whose stock he 
sprung — a people to whom he had been prefigured in all the 
sacrifices and types of the law, and who might in him clearly 
discern the accomplishment of them all. His doctrines and 
his miracles plainly told them who he was, and whence he 
came ; yet few 7 discerned and received him as the Son of 
God. Christ found the doors of men's hearts generally shut 
against him, save only a few whose hearts were opened by 
the almighty power of God, in the way of faith. John 
1 : 12. These indeed received him, but all the rest cxclu- 



44 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

I entrance to the Son of God. So again, John 
reasons with them, and gives undeniable 
3 that he was the Messiah come to save them. 
I it from the testimony of John, verse 33, "Ye 
Bent onto John, and he bare witness unto the truth;" he 
tells them the design of his coming among them was their 
salvation, verse 34 ; shows them the great seal of heaven, 
his uncontrollable miracles, verse 36, " The works that I 
do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me." 
And if that were not enough, he reminds them of the imme- 
diate testimony given of him from heaven, " The Father 
himself which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me." He 
did so at his baptism : " And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, 
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matt. 
3 : 17. And so again at his transfiguration on the holy 
mount, " While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud over- 
shadowed them : and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which 
said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; 
hear ye him." Matt. 17 : 5. He bids them search the 
Scriptures, and critically examine his perfect correspondence 
with them. John 5 : 39. This was enough, one would 
think, to open the door of every man's understanding and 
heart to receive him with full satisfaction ; and yet, after 
all, behold the unreasonable obstinacy and resistance of their 
hearts against him : " Ye will not come to me, that ye might 
have life." Yer. 40. 

Not a soul will open, with all the reasons and demon- 
strations in the world, till the almighty power of God be put 
forth to that end. " If another come in his own name," 
saith he, verse 43, "him will ye receive ;" any one rather 
than the Son of God. Every impostor can easily deceive 
you ; it is to me only your hearts have such a strong aver- 
sion. Now there is a twofold shutting up of the heart against 
Jesus Christ. 

1. Natural. Every soul comes into this world shut up 



•1 1 

ami fast closed against the Lord Jean*. The will of man, 
which i> the freest faculty, cornea into the world barred and 
bolted against Christ. M The carnal mind ia enmit 

for it is oot subject to the Law of God, neither indeed 
can be." Rom. 8 : 7. " It ia God which worketh in yon 
both to will and to do of his good pleasure.' 1 Tlnl. '2 : L3. 
This ia a dismal effect of the fall. Who does not feel Btrong 
aversions and obstinate resistances in bis own heart, when 
moving towards Christ in the first weak and trembling acts 
of faith ! 

2. There is a judicial shutting up of the heart against 
Christ. This is a sore and tremendous stroke of God, pun- 
ishing former rebellions : " Israel would none of me, so 1 
gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts." Psalm 
bl : 11, 12. This looks like a prelude of damnation, a very 
near preparation to ruin. "Israel would none of me ;" 
there is the natural shutting up of the heart : "so I gave 
them up ;'' there is the judicial shutting up of the heart : 
they would not hear, they shall not hear. fearful judg- 
ment ! Thus the Lord gave up the heathen, Horn. 1 : 26 ; 
they had abused their natural light, and now their minds 
are judicially darkened ; given up to a sottish and injudi- 
cious mind, not able to distinguish duty from sin, safety from 
danger — a mind that should choose the worst things, and 
reject the best. This was the reprobate mind unto which 
God gave them up ; what sadder word can the Lord speak 
than this, unless it be, " Take him, Satan !" It is true, 
those whom God shuts up he can open, and those whom 
justice shuts up, mercy can set free ; but it is beyond all the 
power of angels and men to do it. " He shutteth up a man, 
and there can be no opening." Job 12 : 14. These two 
closings of the heart are not always found together in the 
same person ; and blessed be God that they are not. Christ 
- with many a repulse, and endures with much pa- 
tience the gainsaying of sinners, before he pronounces the 



4G CHRIST KNOCKING^ AT THE DOOR. 

dreadful sentence upon them, " Go, and tell this people, hear 
ye indeed, but understand not ; and see ye indeed, but per- 
ceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make 
their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they see with 
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand wiUl 
their heart, and convert, and be healed." Isa. 6 : 9, 10. 

But when it comes to this, dreadful is the case of such 
souls ; and none are in greater danger of this judicial stroke 
of God, than those who have sat long under the light, re- 
belling against it. That is the first thing, the hearts of men 
by nature are locked and §hut up against Christ. 

II. Let us examine what those locks and ears are, 
ivhich oppose and forbid Christ's entrance into the hearts 
of sinners. And they will be found to be, ignorance, unbe- 
lief, pride, custom in sin, presumption, and prejudices against 
the ways of holiness. Bars enough to secure the soul in 
Satan's possession, and frustrate all the designs of mercy, 
except an almighty Power from heaven break them asunder. 

1. The first bar making fast the soul of man against 
Christ, is ignorance. If knowledge is a key that opens the 
heart to Christ, as is plain from Luke 11 : 52, where Christ 
denounceth a woe on them that took away " the key of 
knowledge," then ignorance must needs be the lock that 
makes fast the door of the heart against Christ. On this 
ground Christ told the woman of Samaria, that her unbe- 
lief grew upon the root of her ignorance. " If thou knewest 
the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to 
drink, thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have 
given thee living water." John 4 : 10. Ah, sinners, did 
you but know what a Christ he is that is offered to your 
souls in the gospel ; did you see his beauty, fulness, and 
suitableness, and feel your own need of him, all the world 
could not keep you from him : you would break through all 
reproaches, all sufferings, all self-denials, to come to the 
enjoyment of him. But alas, it is with you as it was 



Til B Ii 1/ 

with those who said to the church, "Wha1 is thy beloved 

more than another beloved, that thou dosl BO oha 

Sol. Songs, 5 : 9, Unknown excellences attract not : igno- 
rance is Satan's Bceptre which he Bwaya over all Ins I 
dom of darkness, ami by which ho holds his vassals in 
erable bondage to him; hence the devils are called, "The 

rulers of the darkness of this world." Eph. G : 12. Alas, 
Ml the eyes of sinners opened to see their Woful state and 

their remedy in Christ, he could never hold them in sub- 
jection one day longer; they would break away from under 
his cruel government and run by thousands to Christ ; for 
so they do as soon as God opens their eyes : in the same 
hour that they are "turned from darkness to light," they 
are also turned " from the power of Satan unto God." Acts 
26 : 16. that you did but know the worth of your souls, 
the dreadful danger they are in, and the fearful wrath that 
hangs over them, with the willingness and ability of Christ 
to save them ; you could not sleep one night longer in the 
state you are : your next cry would be, " What shall I do to 
be saved ?" "Who will show me the way to Christ ? Help, 
ministers ! help, Christians ! yea, help, Lord ! These would 
be the lamentations and cries of those who are now se- 
cure and quiet. But " the god of this world hath blinded 
the eyes of them which believe not," 2 Cor. 4:4: no cries 
for a physician, because they have no consciousness how 
their souls are wounded by sins of commission and by sins of 
omission. that the great Physician would apply his excel- 
lent eye-salve to your understandings, which are yet dark- 
ened with gross ignorance both of your misery and remedy. 

2. The second bar or lock which shuts Christ out of 
men's souls, is the sin of unbelief. This is one of the 
strongest holds of Satan* wherein he trust eth ; this is a sin 
that not only locks up the heart of a sinner, but also hinds 
up the hand of a Saviour. "He did not many mighty 
works there, because of their unbelief." Matt. 13 : 58. 



48 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

Unbelief obstructed his miraculous works when he was 
on earth, and it obstructs his gracious work now he is in 
heaven. A Saviour is come into the world, but, poor unbe- 
liever, thy soul can neither have union nor communion with 
him till this bar of thy unbelief be removed. The gospel is 
come among us with mighty arguments to convince and 
powerful motives to persuade, but little saving effect fol- 
lows : its main design is to many frustrated, and all* this 
through unbelief, shutting up and hardening men's hearts 
under it. " The word preached did not profit them, not 
being mixed with faith in them that heard it." Heb. 4:2. 
Ah, cursed bar ! which shuts up thy heart, shuts out thy 
Saviour, and will effectually shut thee out of heaven, ex- 
cept the almighty power of God break it asunder. They 
could not enter in because of unbelief. Heb. 4:6. The 
ruin of souls is laid at the door of unbelief; it is the damn- 
ing sin, Mark 16 : 16, and truly called so, because no other 
sin could condemn but in virtue of this sin. 

3. The third bar denying entrance to Christ into the 
hearts of sinners, is pride and stoutness of spirit. The 
natural heart is a proud heart ; it lives upon its own stock, 
it cannot stoop to a sincere and universal renunciation of its 
own righteousness : " Being ignorant of God's righteousness, 
and going about to establish their own righteousness, they 
have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." 
Rom. 10:3. Pride stiffens the will that it cannot stoop or 
condescend to declare their own emptiness, discover their 
own shame, and live wholly upon the righteousness of an- 
other. Proud nature chooses the way of destruction, rather 
than to deny itself in such a point as this. This makes 
faith so exceedingly difficult, because it involves such deep 
points of self-denial in it. To give «p all to Christ, to draw 
all from Christ, and to be willing to part with all for Christ — 
what will can be brought to a deliberate consent to such 
things as these, unless an omnipotent power bow it ? It is 



Til E 11 BART CLOSED. 49 

natural to men rather to eat a brown crust, or wear a c 
ragged garment which they can call their own, than to 
on the richest dainties, or wear the costliest garments which 

t hoy must receive as alms or a gift from another. how 
hard is it to subdue this pride of the heart, oven alter light 
and convictions arc come into the soul — to convince men of 
their undone condition, and the absolute necessity of another 
and higher righteousness than their own. When souls are 
in treaty with Christ, this sin makes the last opposition. 
Fain would they come to Christ, ten thousand worlds for 
Christ ; but they think they must not app roach him without 
some qualifications which are yet wanting. But, soul, if 
ever Christ and thou conclude a union, thou must deny 
self even in this the most refined form of it, and come as 
Abraham did, naked and empty-handed, to Him who justi- 
fieth the ungodly. Down with this house-idol, thy self, thy 
righteous self, dressed up, like another Agag, with such spe- 
cious pretences of humility. 

4. The fourth bar forbidding Christ's entrance into the 
soul, is custom in sin. Sin has so fixed itself by long con- 
tinuance in the soul, and the soul is so settled and confirmed 
in its course, that all arguments and persuasions to change 
our path are swept away by the power of custom, as straw's 
and feathers are by the rapid course of a mighty torrent. 
" Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his 
spots ? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do 
evil." Jer. 13 : 23. Soap and nitre may as soon make an 
Ethiopian white, or take the spots out of the leopard's skin, 
as the reasonings of men remove the mighty power of cus- 
tomary sin. Physicians find it a hard thing to cure an ill 
habit of body. It is a great matter to be accustomed this 
way or that from our childhood ; every repeated act of sin 
confirms and strengthens the habit ; and hence it is that we 
see so few conversions in old age. It was a wonder in the 
primitive times, that Marcus Caius Victorius embraced 

Christ Knocking. O 



50 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR 

Christianity in the sixtieth year of his age. Take an habit- 
ual drunkard, a self-righteous moralist, and lay before them 
the necessity of a change, and you will find it as easy to stop 
the course of a river with the breath of your mouth, as to 
stop them in an accustomed course of sinning. 

0. The fifth bar resisting Christ's entrance into the 
soul, is the sin of presumption : this sin parts Christ and 
thousands of souls in the world ; presuming, they hope ; and 
hoping, they perish. "When men presume that their condi- 
tion is safe already, their souls never go out after a Saviour. 
This was the ruin of Laodicea : " Because thou sayest, I 
am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of noth- 
ing ; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and misera- 
ble, and poor, and blind, and naked." Rev. 3 : 17. This 
damning presumption is discovered in three things : 1. Many 
think they have that grace which they have not, mistaking 
the similar for the saving works of the Spirit ; a fatal mis- 
take, never rectified with many thousands till it be too late. 
2. They presume to find that mercy in God, which they 
will never find ; for all the saving mercies of God are dis- 
pensed to men through Christ, in the way of regeneration 
and faith. Jude, ver. 21. 3. They presume upon the time 
for repentance and faith hereafter, which their eyes shall 
never see. And thus presumption locks up the heart 
against Christ, and leaves sinners perishing even in the 
presence of a Saviour. They make a bridge of their own 
shadow, and so perish in the waters. 

6. The sixth and last sin barring the heart against 
Christ, is a strong prejudice against holiness, and the 
strict duties of religion. Thus, in the very infancy of Chris- 
tianity, the world was driven off from religion by the com- 
mon prejudices which lay upon the professors of it : " As 
concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken 
against." Acts 28 : 22. 

Thus Justin Martyr complains that Christians were 



nib; II Bi K l C L08BD. 6) 

9?erywhere condemned by common fame; and on this account 
Christ pronounces a woe upon the world, because of offences, 
Matt. 18:7. Alas, it will be the ruin of thousand 

have imbibed such prejudiced opinions and unjust notions oi 
religion and its professors, as to make them irreconcilable 

enemies to it. Saltan has dressed it up in their fancies ir. 
such an odious form, as to make them loathe both the name 
and the thing. These prejudices are drawn from various 
things ; sometimes from the necessary duties of Christianity, 
which are laid as crimes on the people of God : " When I 
wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my 
reproach." Psalm G9 : 10. Sometimes the groundless and 
malicious slanders and inventions of the enemies of Chris- 
tianity are the occasion of real prejudices to the world : 
" Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah, and let 
us smite him with the tongue." Jer. 18 : 18. Sometimes 
innocent and serious professors of godliness are censured and 
condemned on account of hypocritical professors, who never 
heartily espoused religion. And lastly, the ways of holiness 
suffer from the infirmities of weak Christians, who give too 
many occasions to prejudice the world against the ways of 
God. 

By these things multitudes are kept from attendance on 
the means of grace, and multitudes more have their hearts 
shut up from receiving any saving benefit under them. 

These are the common bars and locks by which the 
strong man armed secures his possession in the souls of sin- 
ners ; and, 

III. These bars are too strong for any but the almighty 
rowEH of god to remove or break. It is said that the Lord 
opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. Acts 14 : 27. The 
arm of the Lord must be revealed, or none will open to 
Christ by faith. Isa. 53 : 1. 

1. The iron bar of the divine law, that thundering, ter- 
rible law, cannot force open the heart of an unbeliever; all 



52 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

the dreadful curses flying out of its fiery mouth, make no 
more impression than a tennis-ball against a wall of mar- 
ble. You read of them who hear the words of this curse. 
blew themselves in their heart, saying, they shall have 
oe, though they walk in the imaginations of their hearts, 
t: add drunkenness to thirst. Deut. 29 : 19. 

They play with hell and eternal torments, rush into 
iniquity as the horse rusheth into the battle, act as men in 
love with their own death, and as those who are at an 
agreement with heU. the besotting, hardening, infatu- 
ating power of sin ! 

2. The golden key of free-grace cannot, in itself, remove 
these bars and open men's hearts to Christ: "We have 
piped unto you, and ye have not danced." Matt. 11 : 17. 
The melodious sounds of grace, mercy, peace, and pardon, 
affect not the dead hearts of unbelievers : like deaf adders, 
they stop their ears at the voice of the charmer, charm he 
never so wisely. These gospel melodies only dispose them 
to a more quiet sleep in sin. 

3. No works of providence are in themselves sufficient 
to open the hearts of men to Christ. 

The judgments of G-od cannot do it ; thousands have 
been sick with smiting, that yet cannot be made sick for 
sin. " Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused 
to receive correction : they have made their faces harder 
than a rock ; they have refused to return." Jer. 5:3. Mes- 
sengers of judgment are abroad, smiting some in their es- 
tates, scattering in one day the labor of many years ; and 
therein giving a warning to the conscience to make sure of 
Christ and the world to come, since their comfort and hap- 
piness are scattered in this world. Some are smitten in 
their dearest relatives ; death knocks at their door, and car- 
ries out the delight of their eyes, and admonishes their souls 
to place their happiness in more durable comforts : some 
are smitten with disease, giving warning of the near ap- 



THE II Bi K.T CL08ED. 53 

preach of their Latter end, and bidding them prepare ton 
another habitation ; but all in vain. 

INo mercies of God are in themselves sufficient to 
open the obdurate hearts of sinners to Christ. God has 
heaped up mercies by multitudes upon many of you; all 
these mercies of God should lead you to repentance. Horn. 
L } :4. They take you in a friendly way by the hand, and 
thus talk with you: "Ah, sinner, how canst thou grieve 
and dishonor the God who thus feedeth, clotheth, and corn- 
ier! eth thee on every side ? Do you thus requite the Lord, 
foolish people and unwise ?" Yet all will not do, neither 
judgments nor mercies can fright or allure the carnal heart 
to Jesus Christ. It is his Spirit, his almighty power alone, 
that opens these everlasting gates, and makes these strong 
Lars give way and fly at his voice. 

Inference 1. Behold here the dismal state of nature, 
and the icoful condition of all unregenerate sends ; Christ 
the Redeemer shut out, sin and Satan shut in. This is the 
horrid state of nature shut up in unbelief. Rom. 1 1 : 32. 
Ah, Lord, what a condition is this ; we should certainly ac- 
count it an unspeakable misery to be shut up in a house 
haunted by the devil, where we should be continually 
frightened with dreadful noises and apparitions ; but alas, 
what is an apparition of the devil without us, to the inhab 
itation of the devil within us ? Nay, what is the possession 
of a body, to Satan's possession of the soul ? Yet this i3 
the very case of the unregenerate. Luke 11 : 21. The 
strong man armed keepeth the palace, till Christ dispossesses 
him by sovereign victorious grace. Poor wretch, canst thou 
start at a supposed vision of a spirit, and not tremble to 
think that thy soul is the habitation of devils ? There is a 
twofold misery lying upon all Ghristless, unregenerated per 
sons. 

Satan is their ruler in this world, "the spirit that 
now worketh in the children of disobedience." Eph. 2 : 2 



54 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

As the Holy Spirit of God dwells and rules in sanctified 
souls, walks in them as in hallowed temples, guiding and 
comforting them ; so Satan dwells in unregenerate hearts, 
inflaming them with his temptations, and using their facul- 
ties and memhers as instruments of unrighteousness. And 
then, 

He will be their tormentor in the world to come : ho 
that tempts now, will torment then. "Depart from me, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels." Matt. 25 : 41. Flee, therefore, and escape for your 
lives, sleep not quietly another night in so dismal and dread- 
ful a state. " If the Son make you free, ye shall be free in- 
deed." John 8 : 36. 

2. What a glorious icork of sovereign, omnipotent 
grace is the effectual conversion of a sinner unto God. If 
every heart by nature be secured for Satan under so many 
locks and bars, the opening of any heart to Christ is deserv- 
edly marvellous in our eyes. You all acknowledge that the 
opening of the graves at the resurrection will be a glorious 
display of Almighty power, and so it will : it will be a won- 
derful thing to see the graves opened and the dead raised at 
the voice of the archangel and the trump of God ; but give 
me leave to say that the opening of thy heart, poor sinner, 
to receive Christ, is a more glorious work than that of rais- 
ing the dead ; it is therefore deservedly put in the first rank 
of the great mysteries of godliness, that Christ is "believed 
on in the world." 1 Tim. 3:16. He that well considers 
Christ, may justly wonder that all the hearts in the enlight- 
ened world do not stand wide open to embrace him ; yet he 
that shall consider the frame and temper of the natural 
heart, and how strongly Satan has intrenched and fortified 
himself in it, may justly wonder to hear of a work of conver- 
sion in an age. brethren, consider the marvels of conver- 
sion, the wonderful works of God upon the soul that opens 
unto Christ by faith. 



THE HEART CLOSE D 5(j 

There is a ncir eye created in the mind: " The Sou 
of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that 
we may know him that is true." 1 John, 5 : 20. that 
precious eye of faith, which shows the soul as it were a new 
world, a world of new and ravishing objects. Eph. 5 : 8. 
All the angels in heaven, all the ministers and libraries upon 
earth, cannot create such an eye and give such an illumina- 
tion; it is only He who " commanded the light to shine out 
of darkness, that" thus "shineth in our hearts, to give the 
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of 
Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. 4 : G. 

And what a glorious supernatural work is the convic- 
tion of the conscience by the saving beams of light upon 
it. Now the conscience, which lay in a dead sleep, begins 
to startle and look about it with fear and horror. Life and 
feeling have got into it, and now it cries, " Ah, sick, sick at 
the heart for sin, sick for a Saviour." 

And no less marvellous an effect of the Almighty pow- 
er is the boiving of the stubborn ivill so efficaciously, so 
congruously, and so determinately and fixedly to the Lord 
Jesus. The will is efficaciously determined, so as no power 
of hell or nature can resist or frustrate that mighty power 
which worketh effectually in all them that believe. 1 Thess., 
2:13. Yet it works not by way of compulsion, but in har- 
mony with and agreeably to the nature of the will : "I 
drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." Hosea 
11:4. Satan bids for the soul, but Christ infinitely outbids 
all his offers ; eternal, spiritual, and unsearchable riches, in- 
stead of sensual, perishing enjoyments, which determine the 
choice of the will in its own natural method, by the sight of 
the excelling glory of spiritual things. And thus the mighty, 
supernatural power of God opens the heart which Satan had 
secured so many ways against Christ. 

3. Hence it also follows, that man has, no ivill of his 
own to supernatural good. The will cannot, by its own 



56 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

power, open itself co receive Christ by faith. When it does 
open to him, it is not by its natural power, but by the power 
of God upon it. The admirers of nature talk much of the 
sovereignty of the will, as if it alone had escaped the fall, 
and that no more than moral suasion is needed to open it to 
Christ ; that is, that God needs do no more to save men than 
the devil does to damn them But if ever God makes you 
sensible what the work of saving conversion is, you will 
quickly find that your will is lame to spiritual things ; you 
will cry out of a wounded will, as well as of a dark head 
and a hard heart. You will quickly find that "it is God 
which worketh in you both to will and to do of his own good 
pleasure." Phil. 2 : 13. The birth of the new creature is 
not of the will of man, but of God. John 1:13. 

4. Learn, hence, the necessity of conversion in order to 
salvation. Christ and heaven are shut up against you till 
your hearts are savingly opened unto him. "Marvel not 
that I said unto thee, ye must be born again." John 3:7. 
shiner, that hard heart of thine must be humbled ; thy 
stubborn and refractory will must be bowed ; all the powers 
of thy soul must be unlocked and opened to Christ ; he must 
come into thy soul, or thou canst never see the face of God 
in peace. It is Christ in you that is " the hope of glory." 
Col. 1 : 27. Till thy heart is opened, Christ, with all the 
hopes of glory, stands without thee. If hope from the death 
of Christ, without the application of his Spirit, be enough to 
save men, then why are any damned ? See 1 Cor. 1:30. 
Adam's sin damns none but only such as are in him ; and 
Christ's righteousness saves none but those that are by faith 
in him : the eternal purpose of the Father, the meritorious 
death of the Son, put no man into the state of salvation and 
happiness till both are brought home by the Spirit's powerful 
application in the work of saving conversion. It is good 
news indeed, that Christ died for sinners ; it is good news 
that Christ is brought to our very doors hi the tenders of the 



THE Hi-: A ii T CLOSED. 

gospel, and thai the Spirit knocks at the door of our hearts, 
by many convictions and persuasions to open to him and 
enjoy the unspeakable benefits of his death: these thii 
bring us nigh to Christ and salvation ; and yet all this may 

bo, eventually, but a dreadful aggravation of our damna- 
tion, and will certainly be so to them whose hearts are but 
almost opened to Christ. 

5. See, hence, the necessity of fervent prayer to acconi 

fany the preaching of the gospel. Without the Spirit and 
power of God accompanying the word, no heart can ever be 
opened to Christ : alas, such bars as these are too strong for 
the breath of man to break ; let ministers pray, and the 
people pray, that the gospel may be preached "with the 
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." 1 Pet. 1 : 12. It 
greatly concerns us who preach the gospel, to wrestle with 
God upon our knees for help in the dispensation of it unto 
the people — to steep that seed we sow among you in tears 
and prayers before you hear it. And I beseech you, breth- 
ren, let us not strive alone ; join your cries to heaven with 
ours, for the blessing of the Spirit upon the word. How 
does Paul beg of the people, as a beggar would for alms ; for 
their assistance in prayer: "I beseech you, brethren, for 
the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, 
that ye strive together with me hi your prayers to God for 
me." Rom. 15 : 30. 

For want of such wrestlings with God in prayer, there 
is so little efficacy in ordinances. Martha told her Saviour, 
" Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died," 
John 11 : 21 ; and I may tell you, that if the Spirit had 
been here, your souls had not remained dead under the word 
as they do this day. when the Sabbath draws near, let 
fervent cries ascend from every family to heaven. Lord, 
pour out thy Spirit with thy word ; make it mighty through 
thy power to open these gates of iron and break asunder 
these bars of brass. 



08 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOE. 

The subject supplies us with matter for exhortation to 
duty. Seeing the case stands thus, that all hearts by nature 
are barred and shut up against Christ, let every soul strive 
to its uttermost to get the heart and will opened to Christ : 
"Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Luke 13:24. 
Christ is at the door ; strive with yourselves as well as 
with God now to get it opened, now that salvation is come 
so near your souls. 

Objection. But have you not told us that no sinner 
can open his own heart, nor bow his own will to Christ ? 

Answer. True, he cannot convert himself, but he may 
do many things in order to it, and which have a tendency to 
it, which he does not do ; and so he perishes, not because he 
cannot, but because he will not open his heart to Christ. 

Many things may be done by sinners which are not 
done ; and though in themselves they are insufficient, yet 
being the way in which the Spirit of God usually works, we 
are bound to do them. As for example, 1. If it be not in 
your power to open your heart to Christ, it is in your power 
to forbear the external acts of sin, which set your heart the 
more against Christ. Who forces thine hands to steal, or thy 
tongue to swear or lie ? Who forces the cup of excess down 
your throat ? 2. If you cannot open your heart under the 
word, it is in your power to attend upon the external duties 
and ordinances of the gospel. Why cannot those feet carry 
thee to the assemblies of the saints, as well as to a tavern ? 

3. And if you cannot admit the word effectually into your 
heart, certainly you can apply your mind with more atten- 
tion and consideration to it than you do. Who forces thine 
eyes to wander, or closes them with sleep, when the awful 
matters of eternal life and death are sounding in thine ears? 

4. If you cannot open your heart to embrace Christ, cer- 
tainly you can reflect when the obvious characters of a 
Christless state are plainly held forth before your eyes, 
jod has given you a self-reflecting power : the spirit of 



Til E il KA K.T C LOSED. 59 

man knoweth the things yd' a man. l Cor. 2: 11. When 

you hear of convictions of sin, compunction of heart for sill, 
deep concern of the soul about its eternal state, hungering 
and thirsting alter Christ, anxious days and nights about 
salvation, which others have felt, you can certainly examine 
whether it were ever so with you ; and if not, methinks. it 
might conduce to the prevention of your misery, to bemoan 
yourself, saying, " Ah, my poor soul, canst thou endure ever- 
lasting burnings ? What will become of thee if Christ pass 
thee by, and his Spirit strive no more with thee?" Why 
cannot you throw yourself at the feet of God, and ciy for 
mercy ? Prayer is a part of natural worship ; distress usu- 
ally puts men upon it who have no grace. Jonah 1:5. 
Do this towards the opening and saving of your soul, which 
though it be not in itself sufficient, nor puts God under any 
obligation or necessity to show you mercy, yet it puts you in 
the way of the Spirit. And is not thy soul, sinner, worth 
as much as this ? Have you not taken a great deal more 
pains for the trifles of this world ? And will it not be a 
dreadful aggravation of sin and misery to all eternity, that 
you perished so easily ? Do not you see many round about 
you striving for Christ and salvation, while you sit still with 
folded arms as if you had nothing to do for another world ? 
u The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent 
take it by force." Matt. 11 : 12. 

Why should other men's souls be dearer to them than 
yours to you ? What discouragements have you which other 
men have not; or what encouragements have they which 
you have not ? 

Objection. Say not, We have no assurance that our 
pains shall prosper, or our strivings be made effectual to 
conversion : if there were any promise in the gospel that 
such endeavors should be seconded from heaven and made 
available to salvation, then we would strive as long as 
breath and life should last ; but all this may be to no 



60 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR 

purpose, we may be Christless and hopeless when all 13 
done. 

Answer. But yet remember, God may bless these weak 
endeavors, and give you his Almighty Spirit with them : 
nay, it is highly probable that he will do so ; and is a strong 
probability nothing with you ? Do you perform no actions 
about your civil callings without an assurance of success ? 
When the merchant ventures his life or property at sea, is 
he sure of a good return ; or does he not venture upon 
the mere probabilities of a gainful voyage ? "When the 
husbandman plows his land, and empties his bags and 
purse upon it, is he sure of a good harvest ? May not a 
blight defeat all his hopes ? Yet he ploweth and soweth in 
hope, and ordinarily God makes him partake of his hope \ 
but without such industry his expectations would be in vain. 
Away then with vain excuses ; up and be doing in the us* 
of all appointed means, and the Lord be with you. 

Before I dismiss this point, let us try ourselves by it, 
whether God has opened our hearts to Christ, broken these 
bars of ignorance, unbelief, custom, and prejudice — whether 
we are ready to receive Christ Jesus the Lord. 

This is a solemn application of the subject, and the con- 
sequences of it may be great : that our faithfulness and 
seriousness in the trial may be answerable. Try yourselves 
by these following marks : 

Mark 1. If your eyes be not opened to see sin in its 
mleness, and Christ in his glory, suitableness, and neces- 
sity, then your hearts were never yet effectually opened by 
the gospel. Men's eyes may be opened to see sin, and their 
hearts at the same time be shut up by unbelief against 
Christ ; but no man's heart can be opened to Christ while 
his eyes are shut : « This is the will of him that sent me, 
that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him, 
may have everlasting life." John 6:40. The work of 



THE HEART CLOSED. 01 

faith is always wrought in the light of conviction ; the euro 
of the heart begins at the eye of the mind, Acts 26 : 18, 
11 to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto God." God open* 
men's hearts by shining into them. 2 Cor. 4 : 6. If, there- 
fore, any man's eyes be still blinded with ignorance and 
prejudice, so that he sees not his own guilt and misery, nor 
the worth and necessity of a Saviour, that man's heart is 
still under Satan's lock and bar, sin is shut in and Christ is 
shut out of his soul. 

Mark 2. No heart opens to Christ by faith till it be first 
wounded by compunction and humiliation; this heart- 
wounding work is always antecedent to the work of faith. 

1 doubt not but your thoughts forerun my discourse, and are 
directed to that scripture where Peter, preaching to thosfc 
who had crucified Christ, and bringing his discourse close t( 
their consciences in the application of that sermon, convinces 
them not only what an atrocious crime the crucifying of the 
Son of God was in itself, but also charges it home upon them : 
11 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore- 
knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have 
crucified and slain. When they heard this, they were prick- 
ed in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the 
apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" Acts 

2 : 23, 37. Upon this outcry three thousand souls opened 
in one hour to Christ. JNTow consider whether your hearts 
have been thus wounded ; has sorrow for sin pierced thy 
soul ? Vain sinner, that frothy heart of thine must bleed 
under compunctions for sin, or there will be no room for 
Christ in it. Come, soul, it is in vain to flatter yourself in 
your own eyes : reflect upon the frame of your heart, call 
back the days that are past, and say, when w^as the time, 
and where was the place when thou layedst at the foot of 
God, mourning on account of thy sins. Did ever God hear 
such a cry as this from thy soul? "Ah, Lord, my soul is dig- 



b2 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

tressed ; I roll hither and thither for ease and comfort, but 
find none. the insupportable weight of guilt ; the bit- 
terness of sin. My soul fails under it ; Lord, undertake for 
ne." I do not say the degrees of compunction and humili- 
ation are equal in all converts, neither are their sins or their 
ability to bear sorrows for them equal ; but this I say, thy 
heart must ache for sin, or it will never open to Christ : he 
binds up none but broken hearts. Isa. 61 : 1. 

Mark 3. If Christ is come into thy heart, the love and 
delight of every sin is gone out of it. Christ and the love 
of sin cannot dwell together : what he said to the soldiers 
that apprehended him in the garden, he says to every soul 
that comes to apprehend him by faith, " If ye seek me, let 
these go their way," John 18:8; away with the sin thou 
most delightest in. Christ cannot come in till this be gone. 
" Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him 
while he is near : let the wicked forsake his way, and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the 
Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, 
for he will abundantly pardon." Isa. 55 : 6, 7. Here are 
the terms of your acceptance and salvation plainly laid down, 
forsake thy ways and thoughts : the way means the exter- 
nal acts of sin, and the thoughts the internal acts of con- 
trivance and delight in sin ; both these must be forsaken ; 
and that is not all, for this makes but a negative holiness, 
" Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy." It 
is in vain for men to make the door of salvation wider than 
God has made it ; we cannot bring down Christ's terms 
lower than he has set them : if we will not come up to them, 
Christ and we must part. And this makes the great strug- 
gle in the souls of converts. it is hard to give up pleasant 
and profitable lusts ; but away they must go, a bill of 
divorce must be signed for them, or you cannot be espoused 
to the Lord Jesus. This will be found to be much harder 
than to part with all external things for Christ's sake. 



B ttBARl CLOSED. 03 

Mark 1. No heart can open truly to Christ, thai is not 
i willing upon due deliberation to receive him, with 

his yoke of obedience. Matt. 
; 11 : 29. Any exception against either of these is an 

effectual bar to union with Christ ; he looks upon that soul 

as not worthy of him, that puts in such an exception. Matt. 
10 : 38. If thou judgest not Christ to be worth all suffer- 
ings, all losses, all reproaches, he judges thee unworthy to 
bear the name of his disciple. So for the duties of obedi- 
ence, called his yoke ; he that will not receive Christ's yoke 
can never receive his person, nor any benefit by his blood. 

Mark 5. Every heart that opens sincerely and evangel- 
ically to Christ, opens to him in deep humility and sense 
of its emptiness and unworthiness ; all self-righteousness is 
given up as dung and dross. Phil. 3 : 8. Thus Abraham 
came to him as to one that justifieth the ungodly. " To him 
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the 
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Horn. 4:5. 
Yea, here is the true way of justification indeed ; where the 
imputed righteousness of Christ comes, all self-righteousness 
vanishes before it. By " him that worketh not," understand 
not an idle, lazy believer, who takes no care of the duties of 
obedience ; an idle faith can never be a saving faith. But 
the meaning is, he worketh not to meet the demands of the 
first covenant — to make up a righteousness for himself by 
his own working, to cover himself with a robe of righteous- 
►f his own weaving. Thou must receive Christ into a 
naked, unworthy soul, or not receive him at all. Paul 
heartily rejected all his own righteousness, cast down that 
ho use- idol to the ground, that he might be found in the 
righteousness of Christ. Phil. 3:9. Cast that idol out of 
doors, it stands in the way of a better righteousness. There 
are divers ways wherein sinners maintain their own right- 
eousness to their ruin. There is a gross and a more refined 
self-righteousness ; the one more palpable and easily liable 



64 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

to conviction, the other much harder to be discovered and 
cured. Ask some men on what their hopes of salvation are 
grounded, and they will tell you they are just in their deal- 
ings with men and constant in their prayers to God ; that is 
all, and therefore they doubt not of their salvation. Thus 
they substitute a righteousness of their own in the place of 
Christ's blood, and are their own destroyers by seeking hi 
this way to be their own saviours. But there is a more 
refined way of self-righteousness, dressed up in such pretence? 
of humility that men are hard to be convinced of it. T 
pity many souls on this account who stand off from Christ 
and dare not believe because they want such and such qual- 
ifications to fit them for Christ. 0, saith one, could I find 
so much brokenness of heart for sin, so much reformation 
and power over corruptions, then I could come to Christ ; 
the meaning of which is, if I could bring a price in my hand 
to purchase him, then I should be encouraged to go to him. 
Here now is horrible pride covered over with a veil of humil- 
ity. Poor sinner, either come naked and empty-handed, 
according to Isa. 55 : 1, and Rom. 4 : 5, or expect a repulse ; 
for Christ is not the sale, but the gift of God. 

Mark 6. "Whatever soul opens to Christ, opens finally 
and everlastingly to him; the heart once opened to Christ, 
must stand open for ever to him, never to shut him out any 
more. And here is a very observable difference between a 
man who comes to Christ in a sudden fright of conscience, 
and parts from him again when that fright is over, and a 
man who receives Christ to dwell in his heart by faith. 
Eph. 3 : 17. When Christ comes into the heart, he saith, 
" Here will I dwell for ever ;" and, " Lord," saith the soul, 
" so I receive thee ; this is the day of union, let me never 
know a day of separation ; let it never be in the power of 
life or death, angels, principalities or powers, things present 
or to come, to make a separation between thee and me." 
"Soul" saith Christ, "thou shalt be mine while I am in 



IHB n k a frr c COSED. 63 

heaven ;" and, " Lord," saiih the soul, " I will be thine while 
I am on earth." ,k 1 will never leave thee nor forsake 
laith Christ; "0, my Lord," Baith the bouI, "hold me 
in thy hand, that I may never leave nor forsake thee; my 

estate, liberty, and life may and must go, but it is the fixed 
purpose of my heart never, never to let thee go." The 
espousals between Christ and the soul are for ever : u I will 
betroth thee unto me for ever," yea, for ever. Hos. 2 : 19. 
And here lies another great difference between the hypocrite 
who takes Christ with a politic reserve, that will venture 
with Christ at sea no further than he can see the shore, and 
the upright heart that embarks itself with Christ without 
reserve, come what will ; that saith to him, as Ittai to 
David, when entreated to go back in a time of danger, "Nay, 
where my Lord Jesus Christ is, whether it be in liberty oi 
in prison, in life or in death, there also will I be." Flesh 
may persuade to a retreat ; but, saith the soul, I cannot 
retreat : wherever the truths, the interest and glory of Christ 
are, there also must I be ; for upon these terms I first received 
him, and opened the door of my heart to him. These things 
are no matters of surprise to me, Christ and I have debated 
them long ago ; he dealt fairly with me, and I must deal 
faithfully with him. 

Now, brethren, view over these six trials ; have your 
eyes been opened to see sin in its vileness, and Christ in his 
beauty and necessity ? Have your hearts been wounded 
with compunction and sorrow for sin ? Are the love and 
delight of sin gone out of your souls ? Have you no excep- 
tions either to the cross or yoke of Christ ? Have you given 
up all your own righteousness, whether gross or refined, foi 
dung and dross, and received Christ for ever ? Then thy 
heart is savingly opened to him. 

The last improvement of this doctrine will be, to di 
from it consolation to all whose hearts the Lord has thus 



66 CHRIST KNOCKING^ AT THE DOOR. 

opened to receive Christ at his knocks and calls of the 
gospel. 

Has God indeed opened your heart, and made you sin- 
cerely willing to receive Christ? then there are ten sweet 
consolations, like so many boxes of 'precious ointment, to be 
poured forth in the close of this discourse, upon every such 
soul. 

Consolation 1. The opening of any man's heart to re- 
ceive Christ, is a clear, scriptural evidence of the Lord's 
love to and setting apart that man for himself from eter- 
nity. I do not say that every man whose heart is opened 
by faith, is thereupon immediately assured and satisfied that 
God has chosen him to salvation. But whether he appre- 
hend it or not, the thing in itself is certain. " Knowing, 
brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came 
not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the 
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." 1 Thess. 1 : 4, 5. 
Their election of God was the thing to be proved ; but alas, 
might they say, Who can know that but God alone ? it is 
among the divine secrets. Yes, saith the apostle, we know 
it, and by this we know it ; for our gospel came not unto 
you in an empty sound, but in mighty efficacy, effectually 
opening your hearts to believe. A more clear and certain 
evidence of your election cannot be given in this world. 

Again, look into Rom. 8 : 30 : " Moreover, whom he did 
predestinate, them he also called ; and whom he called, them 
he also justified ; and whom he justified, them he also glori- 
fied." There are two great and ravishing truths cleared in 
this scripture : the one is, that the whole number of the 
called upon earth were predestinated to life before the world 
was ; the other is, that as the whole number of the glorified 
saints in heaven is made up of souls called and justified on 
earth, so the called soul, that is, the soul that savingly opens 
to Christ by faith, may, from that work of the Spirit upon 
him, solidly reason backward to God's electing love before 



THE HEART CLOSED. G7 

all time, and forward to Ids glorification with God when 

time shall be no more. how strong is the consolation 
flowing out of this glorious work of the Spirit on our 
hearts. 

Consolation 2. The opening of the heart to receive 
Christ, is the peculiar effect of the almighty poiver of God. 
The arm of an angel is too weak to break those strong bars 
before-mentioned; therefore the exceeding greatness of his 
power is applied unto this work of believing : " The exceed- 
ing greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according 
to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in 
Christ when he raised him from the dead." Eph. 1 : 19, 
20. Here is power, the power of God, the greatness of his 
power, the exceeding greatness of his pow T er, the very same 
power which wrought in Christ when he raised him from 
the dead ; and all this is needed to make the heart of man 
open by faith to receive Christ. The only key that fits the 
cross w r ards of man's will and effectually opens his heart, is 
in the hand of Christ : " He hath the key of David ; he open- 
oth, and no man shutteth." Rev. 3:7. 

How long some of you sat under able ministers, search- 
ing sermons, and alarming providences ; yet to no purpose, 
till this almighty power came with the word, and then the 
work was done. " Thy people shall be willing in the day 
of thy power." Psalm 110:3. "What a glorious power 
w r as that which opened Christ's grave, w r hen he lay in the 
heart of the earth, with a weighty stone rolled upon his 
sepulchre. And how mighty a power was that which broke 
asunder all those bars which kept thy soul in the state of 
sin and death. JNTone feel this power but those whom God 
intends for salvation ; and having once wrought this, it is 
engaged to go through with all the rest which yet remains 
to be done to perfect thy salvation. 

Consolation 3. The opening of thy heart to Christ is 
not only an effect of almighty power, but an effect ivithout 



68 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

which all that Christ lias done and suffered, had been of 
no avail to thy salvation; neither the eternal decrees of 
God, nor the meritorious sufferings of Christ, are effectual to 
any man's salvation, until this work of the Spirit be wrought 
upon his heart. The offering of Christ is sufficient to pur- 
chase our redemption, but the receiving of Christ by faith 
brings home salvation to our souls. "Where there are many 
causes to produce one effect, that effect is not produced until 
the last cause has wrought. Thus it is here : the moving 
cause, namely, the free-grace of God, has wrought ; and the 
meritorious cause, the death of Christ, has also wrought ; 
but still the heart, even of an elect man, remains under guilt 
and condemnation, till the Spirit, who is the applying agent, 
has also wrought the blessed effect we now speak of. It i& 
Christ in us, that is, in union with our souls, which is to us 
the hope of glory. Col. 1 : 27 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 30. Behold, then, 
the last stroke given in this opening of the heart by faith ; 
herein electing love has brought home Christ, with all the 
purchases and benefits of his death, into the actual possession 
of thy soul. how transporting a consideration is this. 

Consolation 4. In this work, the opening of the heart 
by faith, the great design of the gospel is also accomplished. 
You behold in the church a glorious frame of ordinances set 
up by divine institution, ministers appointed to preach, sac- 
raments, prayers, singing — a variety of ordinances set up and 
excellent gifts bestowed on men, as the fruit of Christ's 
ascension into heaven. Now, what was the design of God 
in the institution of all these things, but that by them, as 
instruments in his hand, our ignorant, dead, unbelieving 
hearts might be opened to Christ in acts of repentance and 
faith, and built up to a perfect man ? Ministers are sent to 
open your eyes, to turn you from darkness to light, and from 
the power of Satan to God. Acts 26 : 18. They are not 
sent by Christ into this world to get a living, to pursue a 
trade for themselves, but to bring you to faith. 1 Cor. 3 : 5. 



T 1 1 1 : 11 1;.\ I [ CL03BD. 

When • iii in and built up b I 

you shall Bee thifl gloria rdinanc6i taken di 

there will be do more preaching aor bearing, the end of all 

thingi being accomplished: "Then cometh the 
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even 
the Father." l Cor. L5:24. The oonrnderation of the 
accomplishment of the great and principal design of the 
gospel thus far u\nm thy heart, is matter of transporting joy. 
Ministers may and must die, ordinances may be removed, 
but this blessed effect of them upon thy soul shall never die : 
God will perfect what he hath begun. 

Consolation 0. That day wherein thy heart- is savingly 
ive Christ, that very day is salvation < 
1 soul. When the heart of Zaccheus was opened to 
:. he tells him, "This day is salvation come to thy 
Luke 19 : 9. Salvation was come into the world 
e thou wast born ; yea, salvation was come to thy door 
in the tenders of the gospel before ; but it never came into 
thy soul till the day wherein thy heart opened to Christ by 
faith. And is not this matter of singular consolation ? If 
salvation be not, what is ? Iso w T onder that the eunuch went 
home rejoicing, when he had received Christ by faith, 
8:39; that the jailer rejoiced with all his house. Acts 
1G : 34. Neither blame nor wonder at such men for rejoic- 
ing, lor it is the day of their salvation. It is true their sal- 
vation was not finished that day, there were many things 
yet to be done and suffered by them before the completion of 
it ; but it was begun that day, the foundation was laid in 
the soul that day, and the top-stone shall be set up witli 
shouting in due time, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 

Consolation G. The opening of a sinner's hear* 
Christ make's joy in heaven, a triumph in the city of our 
G'jd above. " I say unto you. that likewise joy shall be in 
heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than 
ninety and nine just persons which need no repentai 



70 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOE. 

Luke 15 : 7. As when a young prince is born, all the 
kingdom rejoices, and there is a demonstration of joy and 
thankfulness in every city and town ; it is much more so in 
heaven, when a soul is born to Christ under the gospel. It 
is a satisfaction to the heart of the Lord Jesus, who now 
beholds more of the travail of his soul ; and to all the angels 
and saints, that another soul is espoused to him. 

When the gospel is effectually brought home by the 
Spirit to the heart of a sinner, and wounds him for sin, and 
sends him home, crying, sick, sick of sin, and sick for 
Christ ! the news thereof is presently in heaven, and sets 
the whole city of God rejoicing. Christ never rejoiced over 
thee before ; thou hast wounded him and grieved him a thou- 
sand times, but he never rejoiced in thee till now ; and that 
which gives joy to Christ may well be matter of joy to thee. 

Consolation 7. The day thy heart is unlocked, unbarred, 
and savingly opened by faith, that very day an intimate, 
spiritual, and everlasting union is made beticeen Christ 
and thy soul; from that day Christ is thine, and thou art 
his. Christ is a great and glorious person ; but how great 
and glorious soever he be, the feeble arms of thy faith may 
surround and embrace him, and thou mayest say with the 
church, "My beloved is mine, and I am his." Sol. Song, 
2 : 16. For mark what he says in the text, " If any man 
open to me, I will come in to him." That soul shall be my 
habitation, there will I dwell for ever. Thus will Christ 
dwell in your heart by faith. What soul feels not itself 
advanced by this union with the Son of God ? Hereby the 
believer becomes a member of his body, of his flesh and of 
his bones : this is an honor bestowed upon thy soul, above 
all that ever God bestowed upon any angel in heaven; to 
them Christ is a head by way of dominion, but to thee by 
way of vital influence. Angels are as the nobles of his 
kingdom, but the believer his bride, and all the angels of 
heaven are ministering spirits unto such. 



Till-: 11 KA B 71 

isolation B. 'rin* opening of thy heart to Christ 

hrings thee not only into union with It is person, but into 

- ate of sweet, sotd-enrichi nunion with him. 

Bo he speaks in the text, ,- If any man open the dour, I will 
cnine in to him, and will sup with him, and lie with me." 
Thou hast lived many years in the world, and never hadst 
any eonmmnion with God till this day. Christ and thy soul 
have been strangers till now. Thou mayest have had oom- 
inunion with ordinances, and even external communion with 
saints, hut for communion with Christ thou couldst know 
nothing- of it, till thou reeeivedst him into thy soul by faith. 
New thou mayest say, " Truly my fellowship is with the 
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 John, 1:3. 
And thenceforth thy communion with men is pleasant and 
desirable. 

Consolation 9. The opening of a man's soul to Christ 
by faith, is a special and peculiar mercy. God has done 
that for thee which he has not done to millions : " Who 
hath believed our report ; and to whom is the arm of the 
Lord revealed?" that is, to how small a remnant in the 
world. Isa. 53 : 1. And the apostle puts the work of faith 
among the great mysteries of godliness, the wonders of relig- 
ion : " Preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the 
world." 1 Tim. 3 : 16. The sound of the gospel is gone 
forth into the world : :i Many are called, but few are cho- 
sen." Matt. 22 : 14. There were many widows in Israel 
in the days of Elias, but to none of them was Elias sent, 
save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon. unto a woman that was 
a widow. Luke 4 : 25, 26. There may have been hundreds 
who sat under the same sermon which opened thy heart to 
Christ, but it may T be to none of them was the Spirit of 
God sent that day, to open their hearts by faith, but to thee ; 
thou wilt freely acknowledge thyself as unlikely and unwor- 
thy as the vilest sinner there. astonishing mercy ! 

Consolation 10. And lastly, in the same day thy heart 



72 CHUIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

opens by faith to Christ, all the treasures of Christ are 
unlocked and opened to thee. In the same hour in which 
God turns the key of regeneration to open thy soul, the key 
of free-grace is also turned to open to thee the unsearchable 
riches of Christ ; then the righteousness of Christ becomes 
thine to justify thee, the wisdom of Christ to guide thee, 
the holiness of Christ to sanctify thee ; in a word, he is that 
day made of God to thee, " wisdom, and righteousness, and 
sanctification, and redemption." 1 Cor. 1 : 30. "All are 
yours ; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 1 Cor, 
3 : 22, 23. Thus I have showed you some of the great 
things God does for those souls who open their hearts to 
receive Christ on the terms of the gospel. 



HIS PATIENT WAITING. 7S 

CHAPTER IV. 

CHRIST'S PATIENCE IN WAITING UPON OBSTI- 
NATE SINNERS. 

"BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK." Rev. 3:20. 

The verb here rendered " I .stand," would strictly be 
rendered "I have stood," but being joined with a verb of 
the 'present tense, is here translated " I do stand," a frequent 
Hebraism in Scripture. It intimates the continued patience 
and long- suffering of Christ ; I have stood and still do stand, 
exercising wonderful patience towards obstinate sinners. 
Which gives us this fourth doctrine : 

Great and admirable is the patience of Christ, in wait- 
ing on trifling and obstinate sinners. 

Thus Wisdom, that is, Christ, expresses himself: " I have 
called, and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, and 
no man regarded." Prov. 1 : 24. Here you have not only 
Ohrist's earnest calls, but suitable gestures also, to gain 
attention. The stretching forth of the hand was a signal 
given to procure attention. Acts 21 : 40. Yet none regards ; 
and this the Lord does not once or twice only, but all the 
day long, Isa. 65 : 2, showing forth all long-suffering, as the 
apostle speaks, 1 Tim. 1:16. In opening this point, I will 
show what divine patience is ; wherein it is evidenced ; 
and why it is exercised towards sinners. 

I. What divine patience is. It is an ability in God 
not only to delay the execution of his wrath for a time tow- 
ards some, but to delay it hi order to the eternal salvation 
of others. 

1 . It is an effect of power in God, not the effect of 
inability or want of opportunity. All sinners are continually 
within the reach of the arm of his justice, and he can strike 
when and where he will. Esau had a revengeful mind 

Christ Knocking. 4 



74 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOCK. 

against Jacob, but wanted opportunity, and therefore was 
forced to delay the execution of his wrath until the days of 
mourning for his father were ended, and then, saith he, 
11 will I slay my brother Jacob." Gen. 27 : 41 . But in God 
it is a glorious effect of power. " The Lord is slow to anger 
and great in power." Nan. 1:3. The greatness of his 
patience flows from the greatness of his pow T er. So the 
apostle speaks, Rom. 9 : 22 : " What if God, willing to show 
his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with 
much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted," or made 
up, "to destruction?" And therefore when Moses prays 
for the exercise of divine patience towards the provoking 
Israelites, he does it in this form: "And now, I beseech 
thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou 
hast spoken, saying, the Lord is long-suffering, and of great 
mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression." Numbers, 
14 : 17, 18. He could exercise this almighty power upon 
thee, and crush thee by it as a moth is crushed ; but behold, 
he exercises it upon himself in staying the execution of his 
own justice. It is the power of God over his wrath, restrain- 
ing it from day to day. 

2. This patience is exercised towards such as perish, in 
a delay of their damnation; and though this be but a sus- 
pension of his wrath for a time, yet it is a glorious act of 
patience in him, as Horn. 9 : 22 shows. Is it nothing for 
a sinner condemned as soon as born, to be reprieved so many 
years out of hell ? Thou hast been provoking him daily and 
hourly to cut thee off, and send thee to thy own place ; and 
yet to be on this side the everlasting burnings, this is whol- 
ly owing to the riches of his forbearance. Ah, how is God 
to be admired in this his glorious power over his own wrath! 
"When we look abroad into the world, and see everywhere 
shiners ripe for destruction, daring the God of heaven to his 
face, yet forborne, how admirable is this power of God ! 

3. God not only exercises this power in a suspension of 



I 



HIS PATIENT WAITING. 75 

his wrath against some, who, alas, must feel it at last ; but 
he delays the execution, of his wrath in a design of mercy 
towards others, that they may never fed it. Isa. 48 : 8, 9. 
Thus he bears with his own elect all the years of their lives 
Wherein they lie in the state of nature, and go on in a course 
of rebellion against God; and this long- suffering of God 
towards them proves their salvation, as you have it in 2 Pet. 
3 : 15 ; "And account that the long-suffering of our Lord 
is salvation." What is the meaning of that ? Ah, Chris- 
tian, thou mayest easily know the meaning of it, without 
turning over many Commentaries. Thou art now in Christ, 
safely escaped from the danger of w r rath to come ; but thou 
owest this thy salvation to the patience and long-suffering 
of God towards thee. For what if he had cut thee off in 
the days of thy ignorance and rebellion against him, and 
thou knowest that thou didst give him millions of provoca- 
tions so to do, where hadst thou now been ? Thou hadst 
never seen Christ, nor the least dawning hope of salvation 
by him. Remember how oft you lay in those days upon 
the bed of sickness and upon the brink of the grave ; and 
what was it that saved thee from eternal wrath but this 
admirable patience of Christ ? Well, therefore, may the 
apostle say, "Account that the long-suffering of our Lord is 
salvation." 

This patience of God seems to spring out of his mercy ; 
only it differs from mercy in this, that man as miserable is 
the object of mercy, but man as criminal is the object of 
patience. Such is the nature of divine patience, a power 
of God over his own wrath, not only to suspend it for a time 
towards them that perish, but to delay the execution of it 
in a design of salvation towards others. 

II. The evidences of this divine patience, or wherein it 
appears in its glorious manifestations towards provoking 
sinners ; and there are seven full evidences and discoveries 
of it, which should make the hearts of sinners melt within 



76 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

them, while they are sounding in their ears. Ah, methinks 
such as these should melt down your hard hearts before the 
Lord : 

1. The first evidence shall be taken from the multitude 
of sins which men are guilty of before him, the least of 
which is a burden too heavy for any creature to bear ; the 
Psalmist says, " Innumerable evils have compassed me 
about." Psalm 40 : 12. It was true, as applied to the per- 
son of David ; and though it be there also applied to the 
person of Christ, yet none of them were his own sins, but 
ours — called his, by God's reckoning or imputing them to 
him. Men can number vast sums, millions of millions ; but 
no man can number his own sins, they exceed all account. 
There is not a member of the body, though never so small, 
but has been the instrument of innumerable evils. For in- 
stance, the tongue, the apostle tells us, is a world of iniqui- 
ty. Jas. 3:6. And if there be a world of sin in one mem- 
ber, what then are the sins of all ? How many idle, vain 
words, has thy tongue uttered. And yet for them, Christ 
says, men shall give an account in the day of judgment. 
Matt. 12:36. And w T hat have the sins of thy thoughts 
been ? Solomon says, " The thought of foolishness is sin." 
Prov. 24 : 9. who can understand his errors ? Yet the 
patience of God has not failed under such innumerable evils. 
glorious patience ! well may it be ushered in in the text 
with a term of admiration, " Behold, I stand !" 

2. The second evidence of the divine patience shall be 
taken from the heinous nature of some sins above others, 
whereby sinners fly, as it were, in the very face of God ; 
and yet he bears with long-suffering, restraining his hands 
from cutting them off. All sins are not of equal magni- 
tude ; some have a slighter hue, and some are deeper ; 
called upon that account scarlet and crimson sins, Isaiah 
1:18, double-dyed abominations; such are sins against 
knowledge, or sins committed after convictions, and cove 



HIS PATIENT WAITING. 77 

nants, and rebukes of providence. I do not only speak of 
outward gross acts of sin ; for though they are of greater 
infamy, yet inward sins may he of greater guilt, even those 
sins tha^t never defamed thee in the world ; but whatever 
they are, reader, whether outward or inward, thy conscience 
is privy to them, and thy soul may stand amazed at the pa- 
tience of God in forbearing all this while under such provo- 
cations against him ; especially, considering how many are 
this day in hell that never provoked God by sinning with 
such a high hand as thou hast done. 

3. There is a yet greater evidence of the patience of God 
in his bearing with us under the guilt of the special sin of 
slighting and neglecting Jesus Christ. Here is a sin that 
goes to the very heart of Jesus Christ. He can bear any 
sin rather than that; and yet this has Christ borne from 
every one of you. You have spurned the yearnings of his 
mercy, slighted his grace, trampled his precious blood under 
foot, and yet he has borne w 7 ith you to this day. Let thy 
conscience answer, whether thou art not equally deep in the 
guilt of making light of Christ with those upon whom this 
sin was charged by the Lord Jesus. Matt. 22 : 2-6. Christ 
suffered the wrath of God in thy stead, and brought home 
salvation in gospel-offers to thy door ; and then to be slight- 
ed ! No patience but his own could bear it. Every sermon 
and prayer you have sat under with a dead heart, every 
motion of his Spirit which you have quenched, what is this 
but making light of Christ and the great salvation ? Here 
the deepest project of infinite wisdom, and the richest gift oi 
free-grace, wherein God commends his love to men, are un- 
dervalued as small things : thus have you done days with- 
out number ; and yet his hand is not stretched out to cut 
thee off in thy rebellion. " Who is a God like unto thee ?" 
Micah 7:18. What patience is like the patience of Christ? 

4. The length of time the patience of Christ has borne 
with thee speaks its perfection and riches. Consider, sin- 



78 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE VOOA. 

ner, what age thou art of, how many years thou canst nura« 
ber, and that all this hath been a time of patience, for thou 
wast a transgressor from the womb ; yet, for his name's sake 
hath he deferred his anger and hath not cut thee off. Isa. 
48 : 8, 9. How soon did the wrath of God break forth upon 
the angels when they sinned in heaven ; and how long has 
it borne with thee, while thou hast been provoking him on 
earth. Was there ever patience like the patience of God ? 
Many thousands have been sent away to hell since the 
beginning of thy day, but thou art yet spared. that the 
long-suffering of God might be salvation to thee. 

5. A great evidence of the power of divine patience may 
be drawn from the grievousness of our sins against God, 
during the whole time of his forhearance. It is true there 
is no passion in the divine nature, no perturbation ; his 
anger is a mild and holy flame ; yet the contrariety of sin 
to the holiness of his nature is what makes his patience 
wonderful in the eyes of men. The Scripture, speaking hi 
language fitted to the understanding of the creature, repre- 
sents God as wounded to the heart by the sins of men : " I 
am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed 
from me," Ezek. 6:9; " Behold, I am pressed under you, 
as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves," Amos 2 : 13, 
when the axle-tree is ready to crack under the load. It is 
said, " They mocked the messengers of God, and despised 
his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the 
Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy," 
2 Chron. 36 : 16 ; his patience would endure no longer, and 
therefore, when he executed his wrath upon provoking sin- 
ners, that execution is represented in the nature of an ease 
or relief to his burdened patience and justice : " Ah, I will 
ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine ene- 
mies." Isa. 1 : 24. Yet observe, it comes in with an Ah, 
a kind of regret and reluctance ; so Isa. 10 : 25, " Yet a very 
little while and the indignation shall cease, and mine ano-er 



ms path; nt \ya itixg. 

in their destruction." Qod oould ha 

this way to hia anger Long ago, but he chooses rathei 
to hear with thee, than on these terms to ease him* 

tluv. 

6 The iches and bounty vjyon us, 

g the wl his forb 

towards u$i speaks him infinite in hia long-sufiering to\ 

•• Despiaest thou the riches of hia goodness and forbear* 

snd Ion ir-su tiering", not knowing that the goodness of 
God leadeth tliee to repentance?" Rom. 2:4. As if he 
had said, "Vile sinner, canst thou compute the treasm 
mercy thou hast been riotously wasting all this while? 
bou know what vast sums Christ has spent upon thee 
to preserve thee so long out of liell ?" There are two treas- 
ures spending upon sinners, all the time of God's forbearance 
with them : there is the precious treasure of thy time wasted, 
and the invaluable streams of gospel-grace running all this 
while to waste. Thy time is precious ; the whole of thy 
time between thee and eternity is but little, and the most 
of it has been wasted in sin and upon vanity. But that is 
not all, the treasures of gospel-grace have been wasting all 
this while upon thee. It is compared to golden oil, main- 
taining the lamps of ordinances. Zech. 4:12. Who would 
maintain a lamp with golden oil for careless children to play 
by ? Yet this has God done while thy soul has trifled with 
him. The witnesses and ministers of Christ, in Rev. 11:3, 
4, are compared to those olive-trees that drop their precious 
tfil, their gifts, graces, yea, and their natural spirits with 
them, into this lamp, to keep it burning. All this while 
the blood of Chrkt has been running in vain, the ministers 
of Christ preaching and beseeching in vain, the Spirit of 
Christ striving with you in vain. You burn aw r ay golden 
oil, and yet your lamp is not gone out. marvellous pa- 
tience ! the riches of God's forbearance ! 

7. The riches of divine patience towards you are greatly 



80 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOE. 

heightened by the quick destruction the Lord has sent on 
other sinners, while he has spared and passed over you. 
This comparative consideration calls upon you in the apos- 
tle's language, " Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity 
of God : on them which fell, severity ; but toward thee, 
goodness, if thou continue in his goodness : otherwise thou 
also shalt be cut ofF." Horn. 11 : 22. Some sinners have 
been cut off in the beginning of their days, many in the very 
acts of sin, and those not greater than thy sins ; they are 
gone to their own place, and thou art still left a monument 
of the patience and forbearance of God. The sin of Achan 
was not a greater sin than thy covetousness and earthliness 
of heart is ; the sin of JSTadab and Abihu, in offering up 
strange fire, was not greater than thy superstition in offering 
up uncommanded services to God : yet the hand of God fell 
on them, and smote them dead — in the day and place 
wherein they sinned, they perished ; they were taken away 
in their iniquities, but thou art reserved. that it may be 
for an instance and example of the riches of divine patience, 
which may at last lead thee to repentance. 

Thus I have given you seven evidences of the wonderful 
patience of Christ, who hath stood and still doth stand at 
the door, knocking. 

III. Next, we will inquire into the reasons of this mar- 
vellous patience of Christ, this astonishing long-suffering of 
God towards sinners. 

1. The exercise of his patience is a standing testimony 
of his reconcilable and merciful nature toivards sinful 
man. This he showed forth in his patience towards Paul, 
a great example of his merciful nature, for a pattern to 
them who should hereafter believe on him. 1 Tim. 1 : 16. 
The long-suffering of God is a special part of his revealed 
glory ; and therefore when Moses desired a sight of his glory, 
he proclaims his name, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful 
and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and 



HIS PAT] ENT WAITIN 81 

truth. 11 Exod. 34 :6. He would havesinneis look towardi 
him as a God willing to be reconciled, a God that retains 

not his anger for ever ; but if Burners will take hold of bis 
Strength and make peace with him, they may have peace. 
ha. 27 : 5. This long-suffering is an attribute very ex- 
pressive of the divine nature ; he is willing sinners should 
know, whatever their provocations have been, that there is 
room for pardon and peace, if they will yet come in to 
accept the terms. This patience is a diadem belonging to 
the imperial crown of heaven; the Lord glories in it, as 
peculiar to himself: " I will not execute the fierceness of 
mine anger; for I am God, and not man." Hos. 11 : 9. 
As though he had said, " Had I been as man, the holiest, 
meekest, and most mortified upon earth, I had consumed 
them long ago; but 'I am God, and not man :' my patience 
is above all created patience ; no husband can bear with his 
wife, no parent with his child, as I have borne with you." 
This is one reason of Christ's waiting upon trifling sinners, 
to give proof of his gracious, merciful, and reconcilable na 
ture towards the worst of men. 

2. The Lord exercises this patience towards sinners, 
thereby to lead them to repentance ; this is the direct inten- 
tion of it. The Lord desires and delights to see ingenuous 
relentings and brokenness of heart for sin ; and there is noth- 
ing* like his forbearance and patience in promoting such an 
evangelical repentance. All the terrors of the law will not 
break the heart of a sinner, as the patience and long-suffer- 
ing of God will; therefore it is said that the goodness, for- 
bearance, and long-sufFering of God, lead men to repent- 
ance. Rom. 2 : 4. These are fitted to work upon all the 
principles of humanity which incline men to repentance ; 
reason, conscience, gratitude, feel the influences of the good- 
ness of God herein, and melt under it. Thus Saul's heart re- 
lented : " Is this thy voice, my son David ? and Saul lifted up 
his voice and wept. And he said to David, Thou art more 

4* 



82 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

righteous than I ; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas 
I have rewarded thee evil." 1 Sam. 24 : 16, 17. Thus the 
goodness and forbearance of God doth, as it were, take a 
sinner by the hand, lead him into a corner, and say, " Come, 
let us talk together ; thus and thus vile hast thou been, and 
thus and thus long-suffering and merciful has God been to 
thee ; thy heart has been full of sin, the heart of thy God 
has been full of pity and mercy." This dissolves the sinner 
into tears, and breaks his heart in pieces. If any thing 
will melt a hard heart, this will do it. how good has 
God been to me. How have I tried his patience to the 
uttermost, and still he waits to be gracious, and is exalted 
that he may have compassion. The sobs and tears, the in- 
genuous relentings of a sinner's heart, under the apprehen- 
sions of the sparing mercy and goodness of God, are the 
music of heaven. 

3. The Lord exercises this long-suffering towards sin- 
ners, to clear his justice in the damnation of all obstinate 
refusers of Christ and mercy. Christ waits at our doors 
now, that he may be clear in his sentence against us here- 
after. This patience of Christ takes away all pleas out of 
the mouths of impenitent sinners ; the more Christ's patience 
has been, the less defence they will have for themselves. 

Think with thyself, sinner, what wilt thou answer in the 
great day, when Christ shall say, "Did I not stand at*thy 
door from day to day, from Sabbath to Sabbath, from year to 
year, calling and persuading thee to be reconciled and ac- 
cept pardon and mercy in the proper season of them, and 
thou would est not ? "I gave her space to repent, and she 
repented not." Rev. 2:21. The Lord gives you time now, 
a space for repentance, such a space as millions of souls, 
gone into a miserable eternity, never had. With whomso- 
ever Christ has been quick and severe, surely he hath not 
b3en so with you. This time of Christ's patience will be 
evidence enough to clear him and condemn you ; men and 



ins TAXI EJTT WAITING. 

angels shall applaud the sentence, dreadful act it is, and say, 
M Righteous art thou, Lord, in judging thus." 

4. The Lord exercises his admirable patience towards sin- 
tiers for the continuation and increase of the church. The 
church nmsl be continued and enlarged from age to age ; 
and it" God should cut oil* sinners as soon as they provoke 
him, whence should the elect of God rise in this world ? 
Many that will heartily embrace Christ, must be the descend- 
ants of such as reject him. If God should cut ofT these in 
the beginning of their provocations, how would the church 
be continued ? Where had good Abijah and. Hezekiah been, 
ii' wicked Jeroboam and Ahaz had been cut off in their first 
transgressions ? The Lord suffers many wicked parents to 

'id for a time under his patience, because children are to 
spring from them who will obey and embrace Christ whom 
their wicked parents rejected. Yea, the wicked not only 
propagate the church, but are useful to preserve and defend 
it ; as the chaff is a defence to the wheat : " The earth helped 
the woman." Rev. 12 : 16. 

5. The Lord exercises this long-suffering towards sinners, 
in gracious condescension to the prayers of Ids people. Ex- 
cept the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, 
we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been 
like unto Gomorrah. Isa. 1 : 9. The prayers and interces- 
sions of the saints are a screen between wicked men and 
the wrath of God for a time. The innocent preserve the 
island. Job 22 : 30. The world stands by the prayers of 
the saints ; what multitudes of rebellious, Christ-despising 
sinners swarm in every part of this nation ! Such declare, 
ly their open practice, that they will not have Christ to reign 
over them ; they now contemn his offers, and despise his 
messengers ; but blessed be God, yea, and let them bless him 
too, there are others praying to the Lord for them, beseech- 
ing his forbearance towards them. Little do the wicked 
know how much they are beholden to the prayers of the 



84 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

saints. These and such like reasons prevail with the Lord 
Jesus to stand in a waiting posture at the door of sinners' 
hearts. Ah, how loath is he to give them up. We now 
proceed to the uses of this doctrine. 

And first, this point will be very fruitful for information 
of our understandings in several great and useful points, both 
doctrinal and practical, wherein every soul is deeply con- 
cerned ; and therefore, I beseech you, let them be heard and 
pondered with an answerable attention and seriousness of 
spirit. 

Inference 1. If the Lord Jesus exercises such admirable 
patience, then hoiv much better is it for sinners to be in the 
hands of Christ, than in the hands of the holiest man in 
the world. sinner, it is better for thee to fall into the 
hands of the meek and merciful Jesus, than into the hands 
of the dearest friend thou hast on earth : no creature can 
bear what Christ bears — no patience is like the patience of 
Christ. It is said of Moses, " Now the man Moses was very 
meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the 
earth." Numb. 12 : 3. There was never such a man born 
into the world, for patience, meekness, and long-suffering, as 
Moses was ; and yet this mirror of meekness could not bear 
the provocations of Israel : "Ye rebels," saith he, "must 
we fetch water out of this rock ?" Numb. 20 : 10. Thus 
was his spirit ruffled with the provocations of Israel, and 
this lost him the land of Canaan. Jonah was a good man, 
a prophet of the Lord ; yet because the Lord would not be 
so quick and severe with Nineveh as Jonah had predicted, 
in what uncomely language does his angry soul speak to 
his God : " Lord, was not this my saying, when I was 
yet in my country ? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish; 
for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow 
to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the 
evil, Therefore now, Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life 
from me ; for it is better for me to die than to live." Jonah 



HIS rATIENT WAITING. 85 

4 : 2, 3. As if he had said, "Ah, Lord, I knew it Mould 
come to this; I knew thy gracious nature, how inclined thou 
art to mercy, and that upon the first appearance of their 
repentance thou wouldst repent of the evil, and so .free-grace 
would make me seem as a deceiver among them." 

Give me leave to speak a higher word than all this, and 
let it not seem strange, that the patience of the glorified 
saints in heaven is nothing to the patience of Christ towards 
provoking sinners upon earth. Those glorified souls, though 
they have patience among other graces, perfected in its kind, 
still it is but finite patience and cannot bear what Christ's 
patience bears. Take an instance of it out of Rev. 6:9, 10, 
11 : "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they 
held ; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 
Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our 
blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And it was said 
unto them, that they should rest for a little season." Here 
you see glorified souls less able to bear the slow pace of jus- 
tice towards their enemies, than Christ was. There was no 
sinful impatience, but yet a patience short of Christ's infinite 
patience. Ah, if you were to depend on the patience of any 
creature in heaven or earth, you had worn it out long ago. 
" I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger; for I am 
God, and not man." It is well that we have to do with 
God : " If a man find his enemy, will he let him go well 
away ?" 1 Sam. 24 : 19. No, he will reckon with him 
before he parts with him. Sinner, the Lord finds thee daily 
in thy sins, and yet allows thee to go ; yet beware thou try 
not his patience too far, lest vengeance overtake thee at last, 
and pay the justice of God with all the arrears due to his 
patience. 

2. Hence it follows, that convinced and broken-hearted 
sinners need not be discouraged in going to Jesus Christ 
for mercy, seeing he exercises such wonderful patienct 



86 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

towards (Mutate and refusing sinners. This inference 
breathea the pure gospel; it is a cordial to cheer the heart 
that is moving towards Christ with fear and trembling. It 
is a great artifice of Satan, to daunt and discourage poor con- 
vinced sinners by telling them there is no hope of mercy for 
them ; that they shall find the arms of mercy closed ; that 
the time of mercy is now past, and they come too late. 
how busy is Satan with such suggestions as these in many 
of your souls. But I am instructed to tell you that these are 
but the artifices of the enemy : you are going to the fountain 
of mercy, patience, goodness, and long-suffering ; go on, and 
you shall find abundantly more than you expect. He will 
not cast off a soul that comes mourning and panting towards 
him, and is willing to subscribe the gospel-articles of recon- 
ciliation. No, he will not shut out such a soul, whatever 
its rebellions and provocations have been. Sinner, thou art 
going to the meek and merciful Jesus, who has said, " Come 
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for 
I am meek and lowly in heart." Matt. 11 : 28, 29. You 
are going to meekness and mercy itself: he is " the Lamb of 
God," that is his name. Go on then, trembling sinner; do 
not stand any longer inquiring, shall I, shall I ? but make a 
bold and necessary venture of faith ; try him once, and then, 
report what you find him to be. Certainly, if he exercises 
such patience as he does towards the vessels of wrath while 
they are fitting for destruction, Rom. 9 : 22, he will not 
want patience for a vessel of mercy, preparing by humiliation 
and faith for Christ and glory. Does he bear with those 
that stand in defiance, and will he fall on those that are 
mourning before him upon the knee of submission ? Shall 
a condemned sinner, who is preparing for hell, find so much 
forbearance, and a poor broken-hearted sinner none? It 
cannot be. If Jesus Christ bore with thee when thy heart 
was hard as a rock, and would not shed one tear for sin, will 



HIS PATIEHT WAITING. 87 

lie execute his wrath upon thee, and fthow thee no mercy, 
when thy heart is broken to pieces with Borrow, and filled 
with loathing and detestation against sin, and thyself for sin ! 
Did he bear with thee when sin was thy delight; and will 

he destroy thee now it is thy burden ? It cannot be. 

Moreover, if the Lord Jesus were not willing to show 
mercy to thy soul, now that thine eyes are opened and thy 
heart touched to the quick, why has he foreborne the execu- 
tion of his wrath so long ? He might have taken his own 
time to cut thee off; he might have made any day the exe- 
cution-day. But among all the days of thy life, the day of 
thy humiliation, the day of thy faith, is not likely to prove 
that day. 

Again, as great and vile sinners as thyself have ventured 
upon the grace of Christ, and found it infinitely beyond their 
expectation. These the Lord Jesus has set forth as encour- 
aging examples to all broken-hearted sinners coming after ; 
that they, seeing how it fared with those who went before 
them to Christ, may be encouraged to go to him with more 
confidence. " I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ 
might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them 
which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 
1 Tim. 1:16. Then shut your ears against all the whispers 
# of Satan : entertain no evil reports of Christ. Satan loves to 
draw a false picture of Christ, and represent him in the 
most discouraging form to trembling sinners ; but you will 
not find him so. What can Christ say more to convince and 
satisfy souls than he has done ? He has left the bosom of 
the Father, he has entered into union with thy nature, he has 
poured out his soul unto death ; he nas told us, that he will 
in nowise cast out those that come unto him. Thousands 
have gone before us in the paths of repentance and faith, and 
found it according to his word ; you have been spared all 
your life to this day of mercy. do not stand off now upon 
such weak objections. 



88 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

3. The long-suffering of Christ toiuards sinners teaches 
his ministers to imitate their Lord in 'patience and long- 
suffering. Christ is our pattern of patience ; if he wait, 
much more may we. We think it much to stand from Sab- 
bath to Sabbath, pleading and inviting, and are apt to be 
discouraged when we see no fruit follow. The want of suc- 
cess is apt to cast us under Jeremiah's temptation, to speak 
no more in his name, and make us lament with Isaiah that 
we have labored in vain. It is a hard case to study, pray, 
and preach, and see all our labors without fruit. It is not 
so much the toil as the returning of our labors upon us in 
vain, that discourages our hearts. Ministers would not die so 
fast, says Mr. Lockyer on Colossians, nor be grey-headed so 
soon, did they see the fruits of their labors upon their people. 
But let us look to our Pattern in the text, " Behold, I stand at 
the door and knock." If the master wait, let not the servant 
be weary : "The servant of the Lord must not strive ; but 
be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient ; in meekness 
instructing those that oppose themselves ; if God peradven- 
ture will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the 
truth." 2 Tim. 2 : 24, 25. 

Though the beginning be small, our latter end may 
greatly increase. Though we now fish with hooks, and take 
but now one and then another, the time may come, and we 
hope it is at the door, when we shall spread our nets and 
inclose multitudes. Aretius, a pious divine, comforteth him- 
self thus, under the unsuccessfulness of his labors : " Perhaps 
future days will afford more tractable spirits and easier tem- 
pers of mind than our present times give." Besides, the 
fruit of our labors may spring up to a blessed harvest when 
we are gone: "One soweth, and another reapeth," John 
4 : 37 ; but if not, our reward will not be measured by the 
success, but by the sincerity of our designs and labors. Our 
zeal for the conversion of souls to Christ will be accepted, 
but our discouragement in his service will certainly displease 



II IS I'ATI BKT WAITING-. 89 

him. If Israel be not gathered, yel Bhall we be glorious in 
the eyes of the Lord. However, let this be a caution to you 
that hoar, that you east not. our souls under such discourage- 
ments. If I may speak the sense of others from my own 

experience, I can assure you that the fixedness of your hearts 
in the ways of sin, and your untractableness to the calls of 
God, are a greater burden and discouragement to ministers 
than all the sufferings they meet with from the world ; yet 
are they contented to pray and preach in hope, encouraging 
themselves — the Lord grant it be not without ground — that 
a crop shall yet spring up, which shall make the harvest-men 
rejoice. 

4. From the 'patience and long-suffering of Christ, ice 
may learn the invaluable preciousness of souls, and the 
high esteem Christ has for them. Though your souls be 
cheap in your own eyes, and you are contented to sell them 
for a trifle, for a little sensual pleasure and ease, yet cer- 
tainly Jesus Christ has a high estimate of them, else he 
would never stand •knocking with such importunity, and 
waiting with such wonderful patience for their salvation. 
Christ knows their worth, though you do not ; he accounts, 
and so should you, one of your souls of more worth than the 
whole world. Matt. 16 : 26. The soul of the poorest child 
or meanest servant is of greater value in Christ's eye, than 
the whole world ; and he has given three great evidences 
of it. 

(1.) That he thought it worth his blood to redeem and 
save it. " Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, 
as silver and gold ; but with the precious blood of Christ/ ' 
1 Pet. 1 : 18, 19. Had they not been precious in his eyes, 
he would never have shed his most precious blood to ransom 
them. 

(2.) Were they not highly valuable in his eyes, he would 
never wait with such unwearied patience to save them. He 
has borne thousands of repulses and unreasonable denials 



90 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

from you. Sinner, Christ lias knocked at thy door in many 
a sermon, in many a prayer, in many a sickness— in all 
which thou hast denied him or delayed him ; yet still he con- 
tinues knocking and waiting. Thou couldst not have made 
the poorest beggar in the world wait at thy door so long as 
thy Redeemer has been made to wait, and yet he is not 
gone ; at this day his voice sounds in thine ears, " Behold, I 
stand at the door and knock." Here is clear demonstration 
of the preciousness of thy soul in the Redeemer's eyes. 
And then, 

(3.) When Christ ends the treaty, and gives up the souls 
of men for lost, with what sorrow does he part with them. 
Never did one friend part from another with such demonstra- 
tions of sorrow as Christ parts with the souls of sinners. 
The bowels of his compassion roll together ; for he knows 
what is corning upon them, and what that eternal misery is 
into which their wilful rejection of him will east them. You 
read of the Redeemer's tears shed over the obstinate inhab- 
itants of Jerusalem : ''And when he*was come near, he 
beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst 
known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which 
belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes." 
Luke 19:41, 42. Like unto this is that expression, Isa. 
1 : 24, " Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge 
me of mine enemies." Though it be an ease to his justice, 
yet he cannot give them up without an "Ah," an interjection 
of sorrow; so in Hos. 11 : 8, " How shall I give thee up, 
Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel?" I must do 
it, but how shall I go about it ? All these expressions show 
the great value God has for your souls ; and did you know 
it also, you would not make Christ wait one hour longer. 

5. Hence it follows, that greater is the sin, and & .<• 
ivill be the condemnation of them that perilh under the 
gospel, than of all others. Let me speak freely to you of 
this. Jesus Christ has spent more of the riches of his 



HIS PATIENT WAITING. 91 

patience upon you in one year, yea, in this very day, than 
he has spent upon the heathen in all their lives. They 
never heard of Christ and the great salvation — they have 
had no calls to faith and repentance as you have had ; do 
not think God has dealt in this way with other nations. 
You have his Sabbaths, ministers, calls ; " He hath not dealt 
so with any nation ; and as for his judgments, they have not 
known them." Psalm 147 : 20. God has dealt in a pecu- 
liar way with us, and these special favors will make dread- 
ful accounts. He told the Jews, among whom he had 
preached and wrought his miracles, it would be more toler- 
able for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than 
for them ; and in his name I will tell you this day, that 
barbarous Indians will have a milder hell than you. The 
Lord told Ezekiel, " Thou art not sent to a people of a 
strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou 
canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they 
would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel 
will not hearken unto thee ; for they will not hearken unto 
me : for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-heart- 
ed." Ezek. 3 : 5-7. 

Ah, had a heathen people had your Sabbaths, your min- 
isters, and Bibles, they would not have dealt by Christ as 
you have done. But look you to it, for certainly the severity 
of his justice will at last recompense the expense of his 
patience. There are two glasses turned up this day, and 
both are almost run down : the glass of the gospel running 
down on earth, and the glass of Christ's patience running 
down in heaven. Be sure of it, that for every sand of 
mercy, every drop of love that runs down in vain in this 
world, a drop of wrath runs into the vial of wrath which is 
filling up in heaven. 

6. If Christ hath exercised such wonderful patience 
and long-suffering towards you, before he coidd gain en- 
trance into your hearts, then you have reason to exercise 



92 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

your patience for Christ, and account all long-suffering 
to be your unquestionable duty. Christ was not weary in 
waiting upon you, be not you weary in waiting upon him, 
or for him. There are three things wherein the people of 
God will have much occasion to exercise their patience with 
respect to Christ. 

(1.) You will need patience to wait for the answers of 
your prayers : you knock and wait at the door of mercy, 
and no answer comes ; hereupon discouragement and weari- 
ness seize your spirits. Possibly some of you have prayers 
many years gone upon the file in heaven, some upon spiritual 
accounts and some upon temporal ; and because the answer 
is not sent, your eyes are ready to fail with waiting : for 
the Lord may bear long with his own elect. Luke 18:7. 
The seed of prayer lies under the clods, and will at last 
spring up. He never said to the seed of Jacob, Sock ye me 
in vain. Isa. 45 : 19. None seek God in vain, but those 
who seek him vainly. You should not be too Bhort-breathed 
in waiting on God for the returns of prayer, considering how 
long you made Christ wait on you. 

(2.) You will have occasion to exercise your patience in 
bearing the burden of reproaches and sufferings for Christ. 
"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only 
to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." Phil 
1 : 29. Sufferings, you see, are the gift of Christ ; the coin- 
fort of suffering is his gift, and so is the ability to Buffer ata ; 
and that which will increase your Buffering ability, will be 
the consideration of Christ's long suffering towards you, and 
the hard things he endured for you and from you. 

(3.) You will have occasion to exercise your patience 
for the day of your complete redemption and salvation. 
If you love Christ fervently, the time of your separation from 
him will be borne with difficulty; vehement Love need* the 
allay of patience. " The Lord direct your hearts into the 
love of God, and into the patient waiting fur Christ." 



HIS PATIENT WAITING. 93 

2 Thess. 3:5, Others need patience to die, but you will 
need as much patience to live ; but wherever the exercise of 
your patience shall be, whether in waiting for the returns of 
your prayers, in bearing the cross of Christ, or in waiting 
for the day of your complete redemption and enjoyment of 
Christ, this single consideration, that Christ stood and waited 
so long on you, is enough to fortify your patience against all 
the difficulties it can encounter. 

7. If Christ thus patiently ivait upon trifling and 
obstinate sinners, then let no godly persons be discouraged 
because their unregenerate relatives have not yet made their 
first step toivards Christ, in the ivay of repentance and 
faith. It may be you have laid up a stock of prayers for 
them : the believing husband has prayed for his unbelieving 
wife, and the believing wife for her unbelieving husband ; 
godly parents for their ungodly children, and the pious child 
. for his ungodly parents ; and yet no returns of prayer appear. 
Many cries are gone up to heaven like that of Abraham, "0 
that Ishmael might live before thee." Gen. 17 : 18. Be 
not discouraged, Christ waits, and therefore well may you. 
Those cries of parents, "Lord, my poor chi]d is in the state 
of nature, look in mercy upon him, open his eyes, break his 
heart for sin, draw his will to Christ," may not be lost, 
though the fruit of them yet appear not. Consider how long 
Christ waited on you. There are three things that encour- 
age hope. 

(1.) That your hearts and theirs were of the same nat- 
ural character; and the same power which opened your 
hearts, can open theirs : thy understanding was once as dark, 
thy heart as hard, and thy will as inflexible as thy relatives' 
now are. The same hand that opened thy heart can open 
theirs. Do not think Christ had an easier task to win thy 
heart than he will have to win theirs. Almighty power 
wrought upon you, and the same power can work effectually 
upon them ; "the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it can- 



94 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

not save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." 

Isa. 69:1. 

(2.) You have reason to wait, as it is probable you your- 
selves have put stumbling-blocks in the way of their souls to 
Christ, and hindered the answers to your own prayers for the 
conversion of your relatives. Christians, there is more 
due to them than your prayers — prayers must be accom- 
panied with example ; had they not only heard your cries 
to God for them, but seen your suitable encouraging example 
set before them also, you and they might have rejoiced 
together long ago. But, 

(3.) Consider that God many times makes the fruit of 
such prayers to spring up after those that sowed them are 
dead and gone. The Lord may give life to your prayers 
when you are dead : certainly your prayers die not with you. 
It is the opinion of some that Paul's conversion was the 
return of Stephen's prayer, "Lord, lay not this sin to their 
charge." Acts 7 : 60. Stephen died, but his prayers lived, 
and were answered upon one that stood by and consented to 
his death. But however it be, wait still upon God; if 
your prayers come not into their bosoms, they will certainly 
return into your own. Here is duty discharged, and love to 
Christ and their souls manifested, which will be your com- 
fort, however God dispose the event. 

But further, the doctrine of Christ's patience puts a 
great and serious exhortation into my month, to press one 
of the greatest duties. And could I deliver this exhortation 
to you upon my knees, with tears of blood mingled with my 
words, might that prevail, I would surely do n. 

8. My exhortation is to all that are in an unregenemta 
state, that they presume not to try the patience of Christ, 
any longer. If you have any regard to your eternal hap- 
piness, exercise not his patience another hour. that this 
hour might put an end to Christ's waiting and your dan- 



HIS PATIENT WAITING. 95 

ger \ Hitherto you have wearied men, but will you weary 
God also ? Christ has called, but you have refused ; he has 
stretched out his hands, but you have not regarded. Prov. 
1 : 24. Your thoughts have been wandering after vanity 
while the voice of the gospel has been sounding in your 
ears : some of you have been sottish, and incapable of appre- 
hending spiritual truths ; others of you sensual, given up to 
the pleasures of the world, and abandoning all serious 
thoughts about the world to come. Some of you have 
been buried alive in the cares of the world, and others 
settled upon a dead formality in religion ; and to this day 
Christ hath called upon you in vain. Now that which I 
exhort you to is, that you venture not to try the patience of 
Christ one day longer ; if you have any regard to the ever- 
lasting happiness of your souls, come not under the guilt 
and danger of one denial or delay more. If you ask me, 
"Why may we not venture a little longer ? Christ has borne 
with us all this while, and will he not bear a little longer ? 
May we not take a little more pleasure in sin ? May we 
not hazard one sermon or Sabbath more ? I answer, No. 
If your souls are precious in your eyes, let there be no more 
denials, nor delays to Christ's suit. For, 

(1.) How patient and long-suffering soever Christ has 
been, yet there ivill be an end of the day of his patience — 
a time when he will wait no longer, when his Spirit shall 
strive no more with you. There will be a knock of Christ 
at the heart, which will be the last knock that ever he 
will give — a time when the master of the house will rise 
up, and the door be shut. Matt. 25 : 10. You have had 
to do with a meek and patient Saviour ; but believe it, 
sinners, there is a day of " the wrath of the Lamb" and 
that day will be dreadful. Then will sinners cry "to the 
mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the 
face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath 
of the Lamb." Rev. 6:16. if this wrath be once kin- 



96 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR.. 

died, though but a little ! Blessed are they that trust in 
him, that have finished their agreement with him. The 
day of Christ's patience towards Jerusalem was a long day, 
but it had an end, and it ended in their desolation, Matt. 
23 : 37 ; therefore try the patience of Christ no further : 
you know not the limits of it ; it may end with your next 
refusal, and then where are you ? 

(2.) The longer Christ has exercised his patience already 
towards you, the more terribly will he avenge the abuse of 
it upon you in hell. It is past doubt with me, that there 
are different degrees of torment in hell : the Scriptures are 
plain and clear on this point. Now, among all the aggra- 
vations of the torments of hell, none can be greater than 
the reflections of damned souls upon the abused patience and 
grace of Christ. Those who had the best means, the loudest 
calls, and the longest day under the gospel, will certainly 
have the hottest place in hell, if the goodness and long- 
suffering of Christ do not now lead them to repentance. 
The cries of such souls will be heard above the cries of all 
other miserable wretches who are cast away. It shall be 
more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for Caperna- 
um. Matt. 11 : 23. friends, you little know the reflec- 
tions of conscience in hell upon such hours as you now enjoy — 
such wooing, charming voices and allurements to Christ as 
you now hear. There are many thousands of souls in hell 
from the dark, heathenish parts of the world, where they 
never heard of Christ ; but your misery will be far beyond 
theirs, your reflections more sharp and bitter: therefore 
delay no longer, lest you perish with peculiar aggravation 
of misery. 

(3.) Try the patience of Christ no further, I beseech you, 
forasmuch as you see every day the patience of Christ end- 
ing towards others— patience retiring, and justice arising to 
triumph over the abusers of mercy. You not only read in 
Scripture the ending of God's patience with men, but you 



HIS PATIENT WAITING-. 97 

may Bee it every day. It' you look into scripture, you may 
find the patience of God ended towards multitudes of sin- 
ners, who possibly had the same presumptions and vain 
hopes for the continuance of it that you now have. If you 
look into 1 Peter, 3 : 19, 20, you there find that Christ 
(< went and preached unto the spirits in prison ; which some- 
time were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God 
waited in the days of Noah." The meaning of which is, 
that in the days before the flood, Christ by his Spirit strove 
with the disobedient and rebellious sinners in the ministry 
of Noah, who then were living men and women as we are, 
but now are " spirits in prison," that is, damned souls in 
hell, for their disobedience : and truly, brethren, you may 
frequently behold the glass of patience run down, the very 
last sand in it spent upon others. Whenever you see a 
wicked, Christless man or woman die, you see the end of 
God's patience with that man or woman ; and all this for a 
warning to you, that you venture not to trifle and dally 
with it as they did. 

(4.) Do not try God's patience any longer, if you love 
four souls, for this reason : because when men grow bold, 
■ind encourage themselves in sin on account of God's for- 
bearance and long-suffering towards them, there cannot be 
a more certain sign that his patience is very near its end 
towards them. It is time for God to put an end to his 
patience, when it is made an encouragement to sin. He 
cannot suffer so vile an abuse of his patience, nor endure to 
see it turned into wantonness. This quickly brings up sin 
to its finishing act, and then patience is just finishing also. 
That patience is thus abused, appears from Eccl. 8:11: 
11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed 
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set 
in them to do evil." When divine patience is thus abused, 
look for a sudden change. therefore bew r are of provok- 
ing God, for now the day of patience is certainly near its 

rhrist Knocking. f) 



98 CUEIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

end with sinners. "Because I have called, and ye refused; 
I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded : but 
ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none oi 
my reproof : I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock 
when your fear cometh : when your fear cometh as desola- 
tion, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind." Prov. 
1 : 24-27. Ah, when sinners scoff and mock at the threat- 
enings of God, and bear themselves up on his patience, as 
that which will never break under them, then look out for 
a whirlwind, a sudden tempest of wrath, which will hurry 
such souls into hell. Then misery comes like a storm blow- 
ing furiously from all quarters. The heavens are yet clear 
over you, but a storm is nigh, and may certainly be presaged 
from such vile abuses of the glorious patience of Christ 
towards you. This is the first exhortation, try not the 
patience of Christ by any further delays. 

9. Again, admire Christ's 'patience and forbearance 
until now, that he has not cut you off in sin, but brought 
about your salvation by his long-suffering towards you. 
Here now I must change my voice, and turn it to those 
whose hearts the Lord hath opened. Stand amazed at the 
riches of his grace towards you, and see that you account 
this long-suffering of God to be your salvation ; for in plain 
truth it is so : your salvation was bound up in Christ's for- 
bearance. If Christ had not borne with you as he did, you 
had not been where you are. I could heartily wish, that 
all the time you can redeem from the necessary employ 
ments you have hi the world, may be spent in a humble, 
thankful admiration of this wonderful grace and patience of 
Christ, and in duties answerable to the intentions and ends 
taereof. To this end I shall subjoin divers weighty consid- 
erations, which, methinks, should melt every heart wherein 
the least degree of saving grace is found. 

(1.) Bethink yourselves of the great and manifold inv- 
ocations yon have given the Lord to put an end to all 



II IS PAT] !■: NT WW i I OD 

futther patience towards you; no1 only in the daj of your 
acy, hu1 even since your reconciliation to him. Dt 
you not believe thousands of Binners arc now in the depths 
ot' hell, who \\c\cr provoked the Lord more than you have 
done? Were you not once among the vilest of sinners? 
11 And Buch were some of you," 1 Cor. G : 11 — as vile as the 
vilest among them; yet you are washed in the blood of 
Christ, while your companions are in the lowest hell: or if 
your lives were more clean, sure your hearts were as filthy 
as theirs. And certainly your sins, since the time of your 
reconciliation, have had special aggravations enough to put 
an end to all further mercies towards you. Light and love 
have aggravated these sins, and yet the Lord has not cast 
you off. 

(2.) How often have you been on the very brink of hell , 
in the days of your unregeneracy. Every sickness and 
every danger to life which you have escaped in those days, 
was a marvellous escape from the everlasting wrath of God. 
Had thy disease prevailed one degree further, thou hadst 
been past hope and out of the reach of mercy's arm now. 
Doubtless some of you can remember, when in such and 
such a disease, you were like a ship riding in a furious storm 
by one cable, and two or three of the strands even of that 
cable were snapped asunder. So it has been with you : the 
thread of life, how weak soever, has held till the bonds of 
union between Christ and your souls were fastened, and the 
eternal hazard over. This is admirable grace. 

(3.) How often has death entered into your houses and 
taken away your nearest relatives, but had no commission 
to carry you out with them, because the Lord had a design 
of mercy upon your soul. This cannot but affect a gracious 
heart, that God should smite so near, and yet spare you. 

(1.) This also is affecting, that God has not only given 
you time beyond others, but in that time thejprecioufi oppor* 
tunitii 'cans of your salvation, both external and in 






100 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

temal. There is the very marrow and kernel of the mercy 
Had God lengthened out his patience for a while, but given 
you no means of salvation, or afforded you the means but 
denied you the blessing and efficacy of them, at the most it 
could have been but a reprieve from hell ; but for the Lord 
to give you the gospel, and with the gospel to send down 
his Spirit to persuade and open thy heart to Christ, here is 
the riches of his goodness as well as forbearance. 

10. This doctrine of the patience of Christ exhorts all 
who have felt it, to exercise a Christlike patience towards 
others. As you have found the benefit of divine patience 
yourselves, see that you exercise the meekness and long- 
suffering of Christians towards those who have wronged and 
injured you. Who should show patience more than those 
who have found it ? Do not be severe, short, and quick 
with others, who have lived yourselves so many years upon 
the long-suffering of God. "We are poor, hasty creatures, 
quick to revenge injuries ; but 0, had God been so to us, 
miserable had our condition been. Christ has made this 
duty the scope of that excellent parable, Matt. 18, from 
verse 23 onward, where the king takes an account of his 
servants, reckoning with them one by one, and among them 
finds one who owed him ten thousand talents ; and having 
nothing wherewith to pay, his lord commands him, his wife 
and children, and all he had, to be sold, and payment to be 
made ; but the servant falling down and begging patience, 
his lord was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and 
not only forbore, but forgave the debt. One would think 
the heart of this man would have been a fountain of com- 
passion towards others ; but see the deep corruption of 
nature : the same servant finding one of his fellow-servants 
who owed him but a hundred pence, laid hands on him, and 
took him by the throat. Alas, the wrongs done to us are 
but trifles, compared with the injuries we have done to God ; 
where others have wronged you once, you have wronged God 



HIS PATIENT WAITING. 101 

a thousand times. Methinks the patience of Cbnsl towards 
you Bhould mell your hearts into an ingenuoufl readiness to 
forgive others; especially, considering that an unforgiving 
spirit is a dreadful sign of an unforgiven person. 

1 1 . Burden not the patience of Christ after your recon- 
ciliation to liitn. Let it suffice that you tried his patience 
long enough before. Give him no new trials of it, now he 
is come to dwell in and with you for ever. There are two 
ways wherein God's own people do greatly provoke him after 
their reconciliation. 

(1.) By sluggishness and deadness of spirit in duty , 
turning a deaf ear to the calls and motions of Christ's Spirit 
exciting them to the sweet and pleasant duties of religion. 
We have a sad instance of this in the bride : "It is the 
voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my 
sister, my love, my dove, my undefined ; for my head is 
filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." 
Sol. Songs, 5:2. One would think that Christ might have 
opened the heart of his own spouse with less solicitation and 
importunate arguments than he here uses. What wife 
could shut the door upon her own husband, and bar him out 
of his own house ? And yet see the idle excuse she makes. 
" I have put off my coat ; how shall I put it on ? I have 
washed my feet ; how shall I defile them?" Yer. 3. 

the sluggishness of even regenerate persons ! Those 
who have opened the door to Christ by regeneration, even 
they do often shut it against him in the hours and seasons 
of communion with him. Strange, that Christ should be 
put off while calling to such pleasant and heavenly exer- 
cises as communion with him ; but flesh will be flesh, even 
in the most spiritual Christians. Little do we know what 
a grief this is to Christ, and what a loss to us. 

(2.) Many grieve Christ's Spirit, and sorely try his pa« 
tience, even after reconciliation, by sinning against light 
and love. That caution, E ph. 4 : 30, is not without weighty 



102 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

cause: " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are 
sealed unto the day of redemption." 

Do we thus requite the Lord ? Is this the return we 
make for all his kindness and unparalleled love towards us ? 
Certainly, Christ can bear a thousand injuries from his ene- 
mies, easier than such affronts from his own people. Did 
you not promise him better obedience ? Did you not engage 
to more holiness and watchfulness, in the day that you sued 
out your pardon and made your peace with him ? Are all 
those vows and covenants forgotten ? If you have forgotten 
them, God hath not. 

12. Improve the time that remains in this world with 
double diligence, because you made Christ wait so long, 
and cast away so great a part of your life, before you opened 
your hearts to receive him. The morning of your life, which 
was certainly the freshest and freest part of it, was no 
better than time lost with many of you ; all the days of 
your unregeneracy Christ was shut out, and vanity shut 
into your hearts. You never began to live till Christ gave 
you life, and that was late in the day with many of you. 
How should this provoke to extraordinary diligence in the 
short remains of time we have yet to enjoy. It was Au- 
gustine's lamentation, " Lord, it repents me that I loved 
thee so late." This consideration excited Paul to extraor- 
dinary diligence for Christ. It made him fly up and down 
the world like a seraph, in a flame of holy zeal lor Christ. 
Those who have much to write, and are almost come to the 
end of their paper, had need write close. Friends, you have 
something to do for God on earth, which you cannot do ior 
him in heaven. Isa. 38 : 18, 19. You who have ungodly 
relatives, have something to do for them here which you 
cannot do in heaven. You can now counsel, exhort, and 
pray, in order to their conversion and salvation ; but wi 
you are gone down to the grave, these opportunities of ser- 
vice are cut off. 



HIS PATIENT WAITING. 103 

13. Let us all be ashamed and humbled for the base- 
ness of our 'nearts, which made Christ ivait at the door so 
long before we opened to him. what wretched hearts 
have we. They are no more affected with the groans of 
Christ's heart than with those of a beast ; nor so much, if 
that beast were our own. the vileness of nature, to make 
the Prince of the kings of the earth, bringing pardon and 
salvation with him, stand so long unanswered. Let who 
will cry up the goodness of human nature, I am sure we 
have reason to look upon the vileness of it with amazement 
and horror. 

14. Let us bless the Lord Jesus for the continuation of 
his 'patience, both to ourselves and to the nation in which 
we live. The merciful and long-suffering Redeemer con- 
tinues among us the ambassadors of his mercy, who proclaim 
his readiness to pardon ; and with infinite compassion speaks 
to us this day, as he did to Ephraim of old, " How shall I 
deliver thee?" Look upon this day of mercy as the fruit 
of the intercession of your great Advocate in heaven. Luke 
13 : 7-9. God has put us upon one trial more : if now we 
bring forth fruit, well ; if not, the axe lies at the root of 
the tree. Once more Christ knocks at our door ; the voice 
of the bridegroom is heard — those sweet voices, " Come un- 
to me," " Open to me." Your opening to Christ now, will 
be unto you as the valley of Achor, for a door of hope. 
Hosea 2 : 15. But what if all this should be turned into 
wantonness and formality ! What if your obstinacy and 
infidelity should wear out the remains of that little strength 
and time left you, and that former labors and sorrows have 
left your ministers ! Then we are ruined for ever I then 
farewell gospel, ministers, reformation, because we knew 
not the time of our visitation. What was the awful sen- 
tence of G-od on the fruitless vineyard ? "I will take away 
the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up ; and break down 
the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down ; and I will 



104 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

lay it waste : I will also command the clouds that they rain 
not upon it." Isa. 5:5, 6. The hedge and the wall are 
the spiritual and providential presence of God ; these are 
the defence and safety of his people : the clouds and the rain 
are the sweet influences of gospel-ordinances. If the hedge 
be broken down, God's pleasant plants will soon be eaten 
up ; and if the clouds rain not upon them, their root will 
be rottenness and their blossom will go up as dust ; our 
churches will soon become as the mountains of Gilboa ; 
therefore see that you know and improve the time of your 
visitation. 

I shall conclude this fourth doctrine by a few words of 
consolation to those who have answered, and are now pre* 
paring to answer, the design of Jesus Christ in all his patience 
towards them, by their compliance with his great design 
and end therein. blessed be God, and let his high praisea 
be for ever in our mouths, that at last Christ is like to 
obtain his end upon some of us, and that all do not receive 
the grace of God in vain. And there are three considera- 
tions which will raise your hearts to the height of praise, if 
the Lord has made them indeed willing to open to the Lord 
Jesus. 

15. The faith and obedience of your J t carts make it 
evident, that the Lord's waiting on you hitherto has bent 
in pursuance of his design of electing love. "What * 
the reason God did not take you away by death, though 
you passed so often upon the very brink of it, in the days of 
your unregeneracy ? Surely this was the reason : that you, 
and such as you, might be brought to Christ at last. There 
fore, though the Lord allowed you to run on so long in sin, 
still he continued your lives and the means of your salva- 
tion, because he had a design of mercy and grace upon you. 
And now the time of mercy, even the set time, is come. 
"Praise ye the Lord," 



HIS PATIENT WAITING-. 135 

16. You may also see the sovereignty and freeness of di- 
vine grace in your vocation. Your hearts resisted all along 
the most powerful means, and the importunate calls of Christ ; 
and would have resisted still, had not free and sovereign 
grace prevailed when the time of love was come. Ah, it 
was not the tractableness of thine own will, or the easy 
temper of thy heart to be wrought upon ; the Lord let thee 
stand long enough in the state of nature to prove that there 
was nothing in thy nature but obstinacy and enmity. Thou 
didst hear as many powerful sermons and melting prayers, 
and didst see as many awakening providences, before thy 
heart was opened to Christ, as thou hast since, yet thy 
heart never opened till now ; and why did it open now ? 
Because now the Spirit of God joined himself to the word ; 
victorious grace went forth in the word to break the hard- 
ness and conquer the rebellions of thy heart. The gospel 
was now preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from 
heaven ; "which things," says the apostle, " the angels desire 
to look into." 1 Pet. 1 : 12. Ah, friends, it is a glorious sight, 
worthy of angelic observation and admiration, to behold the 
effects of the gospel preached with the Holy Ghost sent 
down from heaven ; to see, when the Spirit is present with 
the word, the blind eyes of sinners are opened, and they are 
brought into a new world of ravishing objects ; to behold 
fountains of tears flowing for sin, out of hearts lately as hard 
as rocks ; to see all the bars of ignorance, prejudice, custom, 
and unbelief fly open at the voice of the gospel ; to see 
rebels against Christ laying down their arms at his feet, and 
on the knees of submission crying, " Lord, I will rebel no 
more ;" to see the proud heart, hitherto wrapt up in its own 
righteousness, now stripping itself naked, and made willing 
that its own shame should add to the Redeemer's glory. 
These are sights which angels desire to look into. 

Certainly your hearts were more tender, and your wills 
more ready to yield and bend in the days of your youth, 

5* 



106 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

than they were when sin had so hardened them, and long- 
continued custom riveted and fixed them ; yet then they did 
not, and now they do yield to the calls and invitations of 
the gospel. Ascribe all to sovereign grace, and say, "Not 
unto us, Lord, not unto us, but i»nto thy name give glory." 
Psa. 115 : 1. The experience of our own hearts will fur- 
nish us with arguments enough to resist all temptations to 
self-glory. Certainly you " were born not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 
1 :13. 

17. This is a comfortable consideration, that he who 
waited on you so long, and won your hearts at last, will 
not now forsake yon. I question not but there are many 
fears and jealousies within you that all this will come to noth- 
ing, and that you will perish at last. Divers things foment 
these jealousies within your hearts : the weakness of your own 
graces, which, alas, are but in their infancy ; the sense you 
have of your remaining corruptions, and the great strength 
they still retain; the subtlety of Satan, who employs all his 
temptations to reduce you, sometimes roaring after his es- 
caped prey with hideous suggestions, which make your souls 
tremble; sometimes the discouraging apprehensions of the 
difficulties of religion, feeling the spirituality of active obe- 
dience and the difficulty of passive obedience to be above 
your strength; sometimes feeling within yourselves the hid- 
ing of God's face, and the withdrawment of sweet and sen- 
sible communion with him. These, and such thin 
these, cause many a sorrow in your hearts; but cheer up, 
Christ will not lose at last what he pursued so long : he that 
waited so many years for thy soul, will never cast it away 
now that he has the possession of it. 



THE SPIRIT STRIVING-. 107 

CHAPTER V. 

EVERY CONVICTION OF CONSCIENCE AND MO- 
TION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT A KNOCK FROM 
CHRIST. 

"BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK." Rev. 3:20. 

In the former chapter, we have seen the Redeemer's pos 
ture, a posture of condescending humility — rather the pos- 
ture of a servant than of the Lord of all : " Behold, I stand 
at the door." We now come to consider his action or mo- 
tion for entrance : I stand " and knock." This metaphori- 
cal action of knocking, signifies nothing else but the motions 
made by Christ for entrance into the souls of sinners ; and 
affords us this fifth doctrine : 

That every co?ivictio?i of conscience and motion on the 
hearts of sinners is a knock of Christ for entrance into 
their soids. 

This action of knocking is sometimes ascribed to the soul, 
and is expressive of its desire to come into the gracious 
presence and communion of God : so Matt. 7:7, " To him 
that knocketh, it shall be opened ;" that is, to him that seeks 
by importunate prayer, fellowship and communion with the 
Lord, it shall be granted. But here it is applied to Christ, 
and is expressive of his importunate desire to come into 
union and communion with the souls of sinners. Here I 
shall show what are the doors of the soul at which Christ 
knocks ; what his knocking at these doors implies ; by what 
instruments he knocks at them ; and in what manner he 
performs this action. 

I. What are the doors of the soul at which Christ 
knocks. You all know that the term Christ here used can- 
not be literal, but metaphorical. It is a figurative speech ; 
a "door" is introductory to the house, and whatever intro- 



108 CHRIST KNOCKING^ AT THE POOR. 

duces into the soul is the door of the soul. In the soul of 
man there are many powers and faculties that have this 
use, to introduce things into the soul. Some are more out- 
ward, as we may speak comparatively ; and some more in- 
ward, as the doors of our houses are. Christ knocks orderly 
at them all, one after another, for the operations of the Spirit 
disturb not the order of nature. 

1 . The first door that opens into the soul is the under- 
standing. Nothing passes into the soul but it first comes 
through this door of the understanding ; nothing can touch 
the heart or move the affections, but what has first touched 
the understanding. Hence we read so often in Scripture of 
the opening of the understanding, that being, as it were, 
the front door of the soul. 

2. Within this is the royal gate of the soul, namely, the 
will, that noble and imperial power. Many things may pass 
into the mind or understanding of a man, and yet be able to 
get no further ; the door of the will may be shut against them. 
There were many precious truths of God let into the under- 
standings of the heathen by the light of nature, but they 
could get no further ; their hearts and wills were locked and 
shut up against them. They held the truths of God in un- 
righteousness, Horn. 1:18; that is, they bound and imprisoned 
the common notices which the law of nature impressed upon 
their minds concerning the being and nature of God, and the 
duties of both tables of the law. These truths could get no 
further into their souls : and, which is a sad and dreadful 
consideration, Christ himself stands between these two doors, 
in the souls of many persons; he has got into their under- 
standings and consciences, and they are convinced of the ne- 
cessity of receiving Jesus Christ, but still the door of their 
will is barred against him, which drew from him the sad 
complaint, " Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have 
life." John 5:40. When this door of the will is once 
effectually opened, then all the inner doors of the affections 



THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 109 

are quickly set open to receive and welcome him — desire, 
joy, delight, and all the rest, stand open to him. These are 
the doors at which the Redeemer knocks. 

II. We must consider what is meant by Christ's knock- 
ing at the door, and what that action implies. In the gen- 
eral, knocking is an action significant of the desire of one 
who is without, to come in ; it is a sign appointed to that 
end. And what is Christ's knocking, but a signification to 
the soul of his earnest desire to come into it — a notice given 
to the soul of Christ's willingness to possess it for his own 
nabitation? It is as if Christ should say, " Soul, thou art 
the house that was built by my hand, purchased and re- 
deemed by my blood ; I have an unquestionable right to it, 
and now demand entrance." More particularly, there are 
divers great things implied in this gracious act of Christ's 
knocking at the door of the soul. 

1. It implies the special favor and distinguishing 
grace and goodness of Jesus Christ, that he will stand and 
knock at our doors when he passes by so great a part of the 
world, never giving one such knock or call at other men's 
doors. It is certainly the most admirable condescension and 
favor of heaven ; and shows a man to be highly favored of God. 
amazing ! that when Christ passes by the souls of thou- 
sands and millions, and gives not one effectual knock or call 
at their doors all the days of their life, he will please to turn 
aside to thy soul, and wait and knock there for entrance. 
Here is one of the greatest acts of favor that can be shown 
to the soul of a sinner. How many souls there are in the 
world equal in natural dignity to yours, and of sweeter nat- 
ural tempers, whom yet the Lord Jesus lets alone in the 
quiet possession of Satan. Luke 11 : 21. There is a deep 
silence and stilmess in their consciences, no stirrings nor dis- 
turbances by convictions, but, through a dreadful judgment 
of God, they are left in a deep sleep ; and if their consciences 
at any time begin to disturb them, how soon are they hushed 



110 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOO±t. 

and quieted again by Satan ! What the condition of the 
world was in former ages we know from the Scriptures, 
where we learn that God in times past suffered all nations 
to walk in their own ways. Acts 14 : 16. It is the great- 
est mercy for the sleepy conscience of a sinner to be roused 
by convictions, because it is introductory to all other spirit- 
ual mercies. This act of grace is little appreciated by the 
sons and daughters of men : much rather would poor sin 
ners be let alone, than be thus disturbed by troublesome 
convictions ; and when Christ disturbs their rest, how do 
they startle at the knocks of his word and Spirit. How 
angry are they that they cannot be let alone to enjoy their 
quiet sleep in sin till the flames of hell awaken them ! Mr. 
Fenner, that great and eminent instrument of G od in this 
work, tells us in one of his sermons how it fared with a 
certain man that came to hear him preach. It seems the 
word had got entrance into his conscience and gave it a 
terrible alarm, and as he was going home, some that fol- 
lowed him heard him thus blaming and bemoaning himself: 
" what a fool, what a beast was I to come under this 
sermon to-day ! I shall never have peace and quietness any 
more." And what is the reason that smooth and general 
preaching is so much applauded in the world, and close con- 
vincing doctrine so much shunned and hated, but this, that 
sinners are very loath to be disquieted and have their con- 
sciences thoroughly awakened ? "Whatever your apprehen- 
sions be, certainly it is an unspeakable mercy for Christ to 
knock, and disquiet the souls of sinners by his calls. 

2. The next thing implied in this action of Christ is, tliat 
the first motions towards the recovery and salvation of sin- 
ners begin not in themselves, but in Christ. We never 
knock at heaven's door by prayer till Christ has first knock- 
ed at our door by his Spirit. Did not Christ move first, there 
would be no motions after him in our hearts : we move 
towards him, because he hath first moved upon our souls. 



THE SPIRIT STRIVING. Ill 

Christ would ever be unsought and undesired, did lie not 

make t he first motion. All our motions are secondary and 
consequential motions. "I am found of them that sought 
me not." Isa. Go : 1. As "we love him because he first 
loved us," 1 John, 4: 19, so we seek him because he first 
sought us. Alas, poor sinners are well satisfied to lie fast 
asleep in the devil's arms. When the Spirit of God goes 
forth with the word of conviction, he finds the souls of men 
in the same posture which the angels who had surveyed the 
world reported the whole earth to be in : " Behold, all the 
earth sitteth still, and is at rest." Zech. 1:11. Every man 
was settled and satisfied in his own way. What a strange 
stillness and midnight silence is there among sinners. Not 
a sigh, not a cry to be heard for sin. So the psalmist repre- 
sents the case of sinners : " The Lord looked down from 
heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any 
that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, 
they are all together become filthy : there is none that doeth 
good, no, not one." Psalm 14 : 2, 3. There is one thing 
peculiarly strange in this case : that even those whose earthly 
pleasures and delights, which brought them into this sleep 
and security, are taken away from them by the hand of 
Providence, I mean their estates, health, and children, even 
they awake not ; they have no stirrings after God. what 
a dead sleep hath sin cast the souls of sinners into. You 
have a notable scripture to this purpose in Job 35 : 9, 10 ; 
they are the words of Elihu concerning those under grievous 
oppression from the cruel hands of wicked men : " By reason 
of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to 
cry ; they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. But 
none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in 
the night?" that is, comfort and refreshment to the afflict- 
ed. Here are men turned out of their estates, thrown into 
prison, cast on all extremities and miseries, and what do 
these poor creatures do ? Why, they cry by reason of then 



112 CHUIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOH. 

oppression : my father, my mother, my wife, my child, my 
estate, my liberty ! But none saith, Where is my God ? 
my sin, or my misery by reason of sin! " Where is he who 
giveth songs in the night ?" The people of God when they 
lie musing upon their beds under affliction, have their " songs 
in the night ;" in the midst of the multitude of their troubled 
thoughts within them, the comforts of God delight theii 
souls. These are their songs in the night, but no such words 
or thoughts have carnal men. How plain is it, that all the 
first motions of salvation have their spring and rise in God, 
and not in us. 

3. Christ's knocking at the door of the heart shows the 
method of the Spirit in conversion to he in harmony with 
the nature of man's soul. Mark Christ's expression in the 
text ; he does not say, Behold, I come to the door and break 
it open by violence. Christ makes no forcible entries, 
whether sinners will or not ; he will come in by consent of 
the will, or not at all. "I stand and knock ; if any man 
open the door, I will come in to him." There is a great 
difference between a friendly admission by consent, and a 
forcible entrance : in a forcible entrance, bars of iron are 
brought to break open the door ; but in a friendly admission, 
one knocks and the other opens. Forcible actions are un- 
suitable to the nature of the will, whose motions are free and 
spontaneous ; therefore it is said, " Thy people shall be will- 
ing in the day of thy power." Psalm 110 : 3. It is true, 
the power of God is upon the will of man in the day of his 
conversion, or else it would never open to Christ ; but yet 
that power of God doth not act against the freedom of man's 
will ; God makes it willing, taking away the obstinacy and 
leluctance of the will by the efficacy of his grace — a sweet 
and pleasant victory ; and so the door of the will still opens 
freely : " I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of 
love." Hos. 11:4. "I drew them," there is almighty 
power ; but how did this power draw them ? " With cords of 



THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 113 

a man," that is, with rational arguments convincing the 
judgment. Beasts are driven and forced, but men are drawn 
by reason. It must be confessed that when the day of God's 
power is come for bringing home a poor sinner to Christ, the 
power of God's Spirit draws him effectually : li Every man 
that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto 
me," John 6 : 45 ; yet the soul comes freely by the consent 
of his will, for this is the method of Christ in drawing souls 
to him. There is in the day of a sinner's conversion an offer 
made for the will, both by Satan and by Christ ; Satan bids 
riches, honors, and pleasures, with ease and quietness to the 
flesh in the enjoyment of them. Abide where thou art, saith 
Satan ; remain with me, and thou shalt escape all the perse- 
cutions, losses, and troubles in which conscience entangles 
other men ; thou shalt draw thy life through peace and pleas- 
ure to thy dying day. 0, saith the flesh, this is good ; what 
can be better for me ? But then, saith Christ, dost thou not 
consider that all these enjoyments will quickly be at an end ! 
and what shall become of thee then? Behold, I offer thee 
the free, full, and final pardon of thy sins ; peace and recon- 
ciliation with God ; treasures in heaven ; all these shall be 
thine, with troubles, reproaches, and persecutions in this 
world. The understanding and conscience of a sinner being 
convinced of the vanity of earthly things, and the indispen* 
sable necessity of pardon and peace with God — I say, when 
a convinced judgment hath duly balanced these things, and 
laid them before the will, and the Spirit of God puts forth 
his power in the renovation of it, it moves towards Christ 
freely, and yet cannot, according to its natural order, act 
otherwise than it doth. And doubtless this is the true mean- 
ing of that expression so often mistaken and abused in Luke 
14 : 23, " Compel them to come in." What, by forcing men 
against the light of their consciences ? No ; to the shame cf 
many Protestants let us hear the explanation of Stella, a 
popish commentator upon this passage : " Christ compels men 



114 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

to come in, by showing to their will such an excelling good 
as it cannot but embrace ;" for the will is naturally carried 
to the best good, And thus the Spirit works upon the soul 
harmoniously and agreeably to its nature. 

4. Christ's knocking at the door of the soul implies the 
immediate access of the Spirit of God to the soul of man. 
He can come to the very innermost door of the soul at his 
pleasure, and make what impression upon it he pleases. 
Instruments used in this work have no such privilege or 
power. Ministers can but knock at the external door of the 
senses. " Thine eyes shall see thy teachers." We can see 
their persons and hear their voices — we can reason with 
sinners, and plead with their souls ; but awaken them we 
cannot, open their hearts we cannot ; we can only lodge our 
message in their ears, and leave it to the Spirit of God to 
make it effectual. This is a work belonging to the Spirit of 
God, incommunicable to angels or men. If an angel from 
heaven were the preacher, he could not give one effectual 
stroke to the conscience : much less can man ; we have no 
dominion over your consciences. The keys of the doors of 
your souls hang not at our girdles, but are in the hands of 
Christ. He hath the key of David ; he openeth, and no man 
shutteth ; and he shutteth, and no man openeth. Rev. 3:7. 
The conscience and all the faculties of the mind lie naked 
and open to the stroke of God's Spirit ; he can wound them 
and heal them, and make what impression he pleases upon 
them. Learn hence, what need there is both for ministers 
and people, before they enter upon the solemn ordinances of 
God, to lift up their hearts by prayer for the blessing and 
power of the Spirit upon them. Lord, send forth thy Spirit ; 
pour it forth upon and with thy word. Ah, how many 
sermons have we preached and you heard, and yet there is 
no opening. In the next place let us consider, 

III. By what instruments Christ knocks at the doors ; 
that is, the judgment, conscience, and will of a sinner. And 



[I BIB I V l X«i. 1 \:> 

here my work will be to show bow the Spirit of God make* 
Die both of the word and works of God to rouse th< 
sciences and open the hearts of sinners. These are the two 
hammers or instruments of the Spirit, by which he knocks 
at the door of the heart. 

1. Thr word written or preached^ but especially, preach- 
ed. To this Christ gives the preference above all other 
instruments employed about this work ; and hence the word 
is called God's hammer: " Is not my word like as a fire ? 
sailli the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock 
in pieces?' Jer. 23 : 29. By this hammer Christ knocks 
at the door of a sinner's soul, to give warning that he is 
there. The Spirit of God can open the heart immediately, if 
he pleases ; but he will honor his word in this work. And 
therefore, when Lydia's heart was to be opened, Paul the 
great gospel-preacher must be invited, even by an angel, to 
come over to Macedonia and assist in that blessed work. 
Acts 16:9. Lydia was to be converted, her heart must be 
opened to Christ ; the angel could not do it, but calls for the 
help of the apostle, God's appointed instrument to carry on 
that work. So saith God to Paul, " I have appeared unto 
thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness 
both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things 
in the which I will appear unto thee ; delivering thee from 
the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send 
thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkless to 
light and from the power of Satan unto God.'' Acts 
26 : 16-18. There are three ways in which the Holy Spirit 
uses the word as his hammer in knocking at the door of the 
soul. 

(1.) He knocks by particular convictions of the ivord on 
the conscience : this knock by conviction rings and sounds 
through all the rooms and chambers of the soul ; particular 
and effectual conviction wounds to the very centre of the 
soul. When the word comes home by the Spirit's applies? 



116 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

lion, like that of Nathan to David, " Thou art the man," 
then all the powers of the soul are roused and alarmed ; now 
it pierces as a two-edged sword, Heb. 4:12, and divides the 
soul and spirit, the superior and inferior faculties of it — laya 
open the secret guilt and inmost thoughts of a man's heart, 
before which the sinner cannot stand. The secrets of his 
heart are made manifest ; and falling down on his face, he 
must acknowledge that God is in the word of a truth. 1 Cor 
14 : 25. these convictions of the word are such a knock 
at the door of the conscience as will never be forgotten, no, 
not in heaven to all eternity. 

(2.) Christ knocks in the word by its aivful threatening^ 
menacing the soul that opens not with eternal ruin ; these 
are dreadful knocks. 0, sinner, saith Christ, wilt thou not 
open ? Shall all the tenders of my grace made to thee be 
in vain ? Know then, that this thy obstinacy shall be thy 
damnation. Thus the word denounces ruin, in the name of 
the great and terrible God, to all impenitent and obstinate 
unbelievers, John 3 : 36 : "He that belie veth not the Son 
shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 
dreadful sound ! like unto which is that in John 8 : 24, 
" If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
As if he had said, " Thy mittimus for hell shall be made and 
signed. "Will you not come to me, that you may have life ? 
Then you shall even die in your sins. it were better for 
thee to die any kind of death than to die in thy sins." These 
are loud knocks of the word, terrible sounds, yet no more 
than are needed to startle the drowsy consciences of sinners. 
And then, 

(3.) The Spirit knocks by the gracious invitations of 
the word ; and without this, no heart would ever open to 
Christ. It is not frosts and snow, storms and thunder, but 
the gentle distilling dews and cherishing sunbeams that make 
the flowers open in the spring. The terrors of the law may 
be preparatory, but only the grace of the gospel is that which 



THE SPIRIT STRIVING-. 117 

effectually opens the sinner's heart. The obdurate flint will 

sooner break when smitten upon the soft pillow, than upon 
the anvil. Now the gospel abounds with alluring invita- 
tions to draw the will and open the heart of a sinner; such 
as that, Matt. 11 : 28, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden, and I w r ill give you rest." What a- charm- 
ing voice is here ; he that considers it, may well wonder what 
heart in the world can resist it. Like unto this is Isaiah 
55 : 1, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 
and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, 
come, buy wine and milk without money and without 
price." Come, sinner, come ; though thou hast no qualifi- 
cations nor worthiness, nor righteousness of thy own — though 
thou art but a heap of sin and vileness, yet come ; grace is a 
gift, not a sale. And such is John 7:37, "In the last day, 
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If 
any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." As if he 
had said, My grace is not a sealed fountain ; it is free and 
open to the greatest of sinners ; if they thirst, they are in- 
vited to come and drink. This is that oil of the gospel-grace 
which makes the key turn so pleasantly and effectually 
among all the cross-wards of man's will. Thus you see how 
the word preached becomes an instrument in the Spirit's 
hand to open the door of a sinner's heart, at which it knocks 
by its mighty convictions, dreadful threatenings, and gracious 
invitations. 

2. We now come to the second hammer by which the 
Spirit knocks at the sinner's heart, and that is the providen- 
tial works of God. These, in subserviency to the word, are 
of excellent use to awaken sinners and make them open 
their hearts to Christ. God hath magnified his word above 
all his name, yet there are some of the providential works 
of God greatly serviceable in this case ; the word sanctifies 
providences, and providences assist the word and make it 
work. There are two sorts of providential dispensations 



118 CHUIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

which the Lord Jesus makes use of to gain entrance for him 
into the hearts of men, namely, judgments and mercies. 

(1.) Judgments and afflictions : the word of God many 
times works not till some stroke of God come to quicken and 
assist it. Thus did the Lord open the heart of that monster 
of wickedness, Manasseh ; the word could not work alone, but 
a smart rod quickened its operation. " And the Lord spake 
to Manasseh, and to his people ; but they would not hearken 
Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the 
host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among 
the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him 
to Babylon. And when he was in affliction he besought 
the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the 
God of his fathers." 2 Chron. 33 : 10-12. Thus the heart 
of this man relented under the word, assisted by the rod. It 
is good that God takes such a course with some sinners, else 
the word would do them no good : and to this purpose is Job 
36 : 8-10 : " If they be bound in fetters and be holden in 
cords of affliction, then he showeth them their work and 
their transgressions that they have exceeded. He openeth 
also their ear to discipline." This is the rough course which 
the obstinacy of men's hearts makes necessary for their re- 
covery ; and therefore it is observable, that some words of 
God have lain dead in sinners' hearts for years together, and 
at last have begun to work under some smart rod. Alas, 
while all things are pleasant and prosperous about us, the 
word has but little effect : " I spake unto thee hi thy pros- 
perity ; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy 
manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. 
The wind shall eat up all thy pastures, and thy lovers shall 
go into captivity ; surely then shalt thou be ashamed and 
confounded for all thy wickedness." Jer. 22 : 21, 22. As 
though he had said, Your eyes are so dazzled with the beau- 
tiful flowers, and your ears so charmed with the syren songs 
oi earthly delights, that my word can take no effect upon 



THE SPIB II 8TB [VIE l (9 

you. Lei an east-wind blow, and wither up these Nov 
then the word shall work, and eon eeply be] the 

concerns of eternity. Tins course God takes with many of 

you ; you sit l'roin Sabbath to Sabbath under the word, and 
nothing takes effect on your hearts. Will you not hear the 
voice of my word? saith God ; go, death, smite that man's 

child, I will try what that will do ; go, poverty, and blast his 
estate, and see what that will do ; go, sickness, and Bmite 
his body, and shake him over the grave's month, I will Bee 
what that will do. Thus God sends to sinners, as Absalom 
sent to Joab — who refused to come near him, till he set fire 
to his field of corn, and then away comes Joab. 2 Sam. 
11: 29-31. And thus the Lord opened the heart of the 
jailer, by putting him into a fright, a panic fear of death. 
Aets 1G : 27. Thus does the Lord devise means to bring 
back his banished. 

(2.) As God makes use of the hammer of judgments, so 
lie makes use of mercies to make way for Christ into the 
hearts of men. Every mercy is a call, a knock of God : 
and truly if there were any ingenuousness left unextin- 
guished in the heart, one would think mercy would prevail 
more than all judgments. Knowest thou not that the good- 
ness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? Rom. 2 : 4. Or in 
other words, Dost thou not see the hand of mercy stretched 
out to lead thee into a corner, there to mourn over thy sins 
committed against so gracious and merciful a God ? By 
every mercy you receive, Christ doth, as it were, sue you to 
open your hearts to him ; 1hey are so many gifts sent from 
heaven to make way for Christ into your hearts. It would 
be an endless task to enumerate all the mercies bestowed to 
this end upon the unregenerate : but surely this is the errand 
of them all ; and the Lord takes it ill when his end is not 
answered in them : hence is that complaint, Jer. 5 
" Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord 
our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the lati 



120 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

his season." Some of you have been marvellously preserved 
in times of common contagion and death, when thousands 
have fallen at your right hand and left : then have you been 
preserved or recovered, according to Exod. 15:26, "I will 
pat none of these diseases upon thee, for I am the Lord that 
healeth thee." I am Jehovah Rophe, the Lord the physi- 
cian : many of you have been at the grave's mouth in dis- 
eases, others upon the deep ; yet the hand of mercy pulled 
you back, and suffered you not to drop into the grave and 
hell in the same moment. what a knock was here given 
by the hand of mercy at thy hard heart. Certainly, if men 
would but observe, they might see a marvellous working and 
moulding of things by the hand of providence, for the pro- 
duction of thousands of mercies for them : and if mercy 
would do the work and win you over to Christ, many rods 
had been spared which your obstinacy has made necessary. 
ungrateful sinners, doth your Redeemer thus woo you by 
so many gifts of mercy, and yet will you shut him out ? 
" Do ye thus requite the Lord, foolish people and unwise ?" 
For which of all his benefits do your ungrateful souls shut 
the doors upon him ? 

You have seen what Christ's knocking at the soul of a 
sinner implies, and by what instruments it is performed. 

IV. "We will now consider the manner in which this ac- 
tion is performed in the ten following particulars, wherein 
much of the mystery of conversion will be opened ; the Lord 
grant that your experience may answer to them. We can- 
not indeed exactly describe and mark all the footsteps of the 
Spirit, in this work upon the souls of men ; yet these things 
seem eminently observable. 

1. The knocks of Christ at the sinner's heart are silent 
and secret to all persons in the world, except the soul itself 
at whose door he knocks. Here are many hundreds this day 
under the word : if the Lord shall this day knock by convic- 
tion at any man's heart, none will hear that knock, but that 



B BP1 B IT STB I V I xa. 12! 

man only ; for it is a knock withoul Bound 01 noise to any 

but the particular soul ooncerned in it. It was foretold of 

our Redeemer, and of this very ad of his, " He shall not cry, 
nor lilt up, nor cause his voice to he heard in the street." 
[ML 42:2. The kingdom of God coineth not into the souls 
ot* men with public observation. Luke 17:20. "What 
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man 
which is in him ?" 1 Cor. 2:11. None knows what con- 
victions another man's conscience feels, until he himself shall 
discover them ; you hear the same sound of the gospel, but 
you hear not the inward strokes it gives to another man's 
conscience. Christ's approaches to the soul make no noise ; 
little do we know what the Spirit of Christ whispers in the 
ear of him who sits next to us. It is said of the inward 
comforts of the Spirit, " To him that overcometh will I give 
to eat of the hidden manna." Rev. 2 : 17. This is true also 
of inward terrors and troubles. Christ's knocks by convic- 
tion are but a secret whisper of his Spirit in the ear of a sin- 
ner, saying, " Thou art the man ;" this is thy case. This is 
the first thing in the manner of Christ's knocking, it is a 
silent knock without public sound. 

2. These silent, inward knocks of the Spirit of Christ 
greatly differ as to the terror or mildness of them in differ- 
ent persons. Some hear them with terror and astonishment, 
others in a milder and more gentle manner. When the 
Lord knocked at the jailer's conscience, it was a terrible 
stroke ; he called for a light, and sprang in like a man dis- 
tracted ; and trembling and astonished, fell down at the apos- 
tles' feet, crying, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 
Acts 16 : 29, 30 Here was a terrible knock indeed, which 
almost affrighted nis soul out of his body : it is as if he had 
6aid, Tell me, in God's name, and tell me quickly, whether 
there is any way of salvation, and where it lies ; for I am a 
lost man, an undone soul. But when the Lord opened the 
heart of Lydia, there were no such terrors. He spoke to her 

Christ Knocklug. G 






122 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE POOH. 

in a more mild and gentle voice, as you see, Acts 16 : 14 
The Spirit of God varies his method according to the temper 
of the soul he works on. Knotty pieces need greater wedges 
and harder blows to rive them asunder. As God directs his 
ministers to make a difference, to deal tenderly and compas- 
sionately with some, but others to "save with fear," Jude 
22, so he himself observes like different methods. 

3. Some knocks of Christ are successful, and obtain the 
desired effect. He knocks, and the soul opens. But others 
are unsuccessful; he knocks once and again by convictions, 
which may cause the conscience to startle a little, but there 
is no opening to Christ by faith. friends, this is a dreadful 
word to consider : "I have called, and ye refused; I have 
stretched out my hand, and no man regarded." Prov. 1 : 24. 
There is a call without an answer, a knock and no opening ; 
and these things are very common, especially among the un- 
converted who live under a lively, rousing gospel-ministry. 
Of this Christ complains, Matt. 16 : 17 : "Whereunto shall 
I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in 
the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We 
have piped unto you, and ye have not danced ; we have 
mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented." Neither 
the delightful melody of gospel-grace, nor the mournful and 
dreadful threats of perdition to unbelievers, avail to open 
your hearts to embrace me ; no voices from mount Gerizim 
or mount Ebal will prevail with you. How many witnesses 
to this truth have we seen! God forbid it should be thus 
with you. There are some souls who hear and open, even 
every one who hath heard and learned of the Father. John 
6 : 45. When the Spirit of God puts forth his power with 
the word, then, and not till then, it becomes successful. 

4. Sometimes Christ knocks with a succession of convic- 
tions, a quick repetition of his calls. Some men have had 
thousands of convictions in a few years ; for in this case the 
Lord saith, as in Exod. 4 : 8, " If they will not hearken to 



THE sn R it STB I V I v 123 

the voice of the first Bign," yd they may ''believe the voice 
of the latter sign." And yet sometime! neither the former 
nor the latter avail any thing. " How often would I have 
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, and ye would not !" Matt. 
23 : 37. " How often !" intimating the many calls Christ 
gave Jerusalem to come unto him, yet all in vain. Obsti- 
nate sinners, Christ has been knocking and calling at some 
of your consciences from your very childhood ; thousands of 
convictions have been tried upon some of you, and yet to 
this day your souls are shut fast against him. The Lord 
hath waited from year to year for your answer, by this sig- 
nifying how loath he is to part with you : at such a time 
thou wast upon a sick-bed, nigh unto death ; at such a time 
under such a sermon, and then Christ knocked at thy soul : 
if all this is in vain, as many convictions as you have stifled, 
so many fagots you carry with you to hell, to increase your 
flames and torments. Yet commonly those quick repetitions 
and redoublings of the strokes of convictions end well ; and 
it is a good sign when one conviction revives another, and 
the Lord keeps the soul still waiting. But 0, take heed and 
try not his patience too long, lest the next stroke be more 
dreadful than all the former — not to open your hearts, but 
smite dead your hopes of heaven. 

5. Sometimes Christ knocks intermittingly, knocking 
and stopping, and that at a considerable distance of time ; a 
conviction this day, and, it may be, not another for many 
months. There are some aged sinners that have not had 
more than one or two remarkable awakenings of conscience 
in fifty or sixty years, and then no more. Do not think that 
the Spirit will always strive with men. Gen. 6:3. There 
is a time when God says to the word, Convict the conscience 
of that man or woman no more, but henceforth be thou not 
to open but to shut him up. Isa. 6 : 10. Reader, belli ink 
thyself, how long is it since thy conscience was roused and 



124 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOit. 

awakened? 0, saith one, seven or eight years ago 1 heard 
such a sermon, which tore my conscience to pieces ; I fell 
under such a providence, which roused and awakened all 
my fears ; but since that time, all has been still and quiet. 
May the Lord give you a second awakening, lest you awake 
with the flames of God's wrath about you. I observe it is 
usual, when God works upon any very early in life, he knocks 
thus intermittingly : now the conscience is active, and full of 
trouble, then the vanities of youth extinguish these convic- 
tions again ; but the Lord follows his design, and at last the 
conviction settles and ends in conversion. 

6. Christ sometimes knocks with both hands at once, 
with the word and the rod together ; the latter in subservi- 
ency to the former ; and if ever the soul is likely to open, it 
will open then, when ordinances and afflictions work together. 
The word smites the conscience with conviction, and at or 
about the same time Providence smites the outward man 
with some affliction, to make the word effectual ; or, under 
some smart affliction, a suitable word is seasonably directed 
to the conscience ; and thus the one assists the other, and 
both together produce the desired effect. Thus the Lord 
wrought upon the Thessalonians : "And ye became followers 
of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much 
affliction." 1 Thess. 1:6. A child dies, an estate is lost, 
or sickness seizes you at the time when conscience is pre- 
pared by a conviction from the word, or afflictions have pre- 
pared it for the word. The rod upon the back helps the 
word to work upon the heart ; and if both these working in 
fellowship will not do the work, there is little hope that any 
thing will do it. 

7. Every knock of Christ disturbs the sinful rest of 
the soul ; it rouses guilt in the conscience, and puts the 
inner man into great distress and trouble. Before Christ 
comes and knocks at the door of the heart, all is still and 
quiet within : the soul is in a quiet sleep of sinful security, 



Til B BPIEI1 STRIVING. 

no Fears or troubles moles When b man 

armed keepeth Ins palace, his goods arc in peace; bu1 when 
a stronger than he shall conic upon him and overcome him, 
lie taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted." Luke 

11 : 21, 22. The armor which Satan [nils into the hands of 
sinners, to defend themselves against the convict ive strokes 
oi the word, are the general mercy of God, the outward du- 
ties o( religion, partial reformations, etc. But when Christ 
comes by effectual conviction, he disarms the sinner of all 
these pleas, and then the soul sees what broken reeds it has 
leaned upon. "When the commandment came, sin revived, 
and I died," Rom. 7:9; all my vain hopes expired. No 
artifice of Satan can any longer quiet the sinner's conscience ; 
he sees himself in a miserable condition, and meditates an 
escape ; farewell now to sound and quiet sleep : no peace 
till out of danger. 

8. Every effectual knock of Christ gives an alarm to 
hell , and puts Satan to all his shifts and arts to secure the 
possession of the convinced sinner. The devil is a jealous 
spirit, and when his interest is in danger he bestirs himself 
to purpose ; the time of conviction is an hour of temptation. 
" We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princi- 
palities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness 
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." 
Eph. 6:12. The strife between Satan and the soul is 
now for nothing less than the prize of eternal life ; it is now 
for all or none, for life or death, for heaven or hell. The 
powers of hell are now all in arms to destroy convictions, and 
secure the possession of the soul against Christ ; as when a 
grenade falls into a garrison, the first care of the defendant 
is to stifle it before it break. While Christ is speaking by 
his Spirit in one ear, the devil is whispering in the other : 
and the things he whispers to quench convictions are usually 
such as these : There is time enough yet, why such hasti 
Enjoy thy pleasures a little longer, thou mayest come to 



126 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

Christ and be saved at last. If that will not do, then he 
changes his voice : To what purpose wilt thou go to Christ? 
It is now too late, the time of grace is over ; hadst thou 
come to him in thy youth, and obeyed his first call, you 
had been saved ; but now it is to no purpose. If this will 
not quiet the soul, then he says, Thy sins are too great to 
be pardoned ; there is no hope for such a prodigious sinner as 
thou art. If the Lord help the soul to overcome this by dis- 
covering to it the riches of mercy, pardoning the greatest of 
sinners, then he represents the multitudes who are in the 
same case with the convinced sinner : Come, fear not; if it 
go ill with thee, it will be as bad for millions of others ; if 
thou go to hell, thousands will go with thee. But if the 
soul be unwilling to be lost, even with so many others, then 
he bids it look upon the train of troubles and afflictions that 
come along with Christ, and will certainly follow him, if the 
door be open to let him in : If Christ come in, reproaches, 
losses, and sufferings will come in with him ; troops of mis- 
eries follow him : he himself has told thee so ; and art thou 
mad to ruin all thy comforts in the world, and plunge thyself 
into a sea of trouble for what thine eyes never saw ? But if 
the soul reply, These are more tolerable than damnation; 
better that my flesh suffer for a time, than my soul be cast 
away for ever ; then he represents the insuperable difficulties 
of religion : What a hard thing it is to be saved ; how many 
painful duties and acts of mortification the soul must pass 
through. Thus you see what an alarm conviction gives to 
the powers of hell. 

9. Every effectual knock of Christ is continued ; new 
convictions revive former ones, and the Lord never ceases 
to knock till the door is opened. If one sermon will not do, 
another shall ; if one wound be healed by the art of Satan, 
a fresh wound shall be made ; if a former conviction vanish, 
the next shall be sealed upon the soul : and when the Spirit 
of the Lord sealeth a conviction upon the conscience, raze it 



I 'J 7 

out who cart Ami here it the 

ami oommon o oome uid 

they put the BOUl iu a flight lor a day or a month, and thru 

trouble it no more I i Lai convictions will be 

continued, one thing following another, fox Christ is iu pursuit 
of the soul, and will pursue it, till at last he overtake it. 

10. All t/w knocks of Ci the um 

led. This is a dreadful consideration — 
when the time of mercy is over, no more strivings of the 

Spirit. Christ says to the drowsy sinner, as to the drowsy 
disciples in the garden, ' ; Sleep on now, and take your rest." 
Matt. 26:45. I called thee in such a sermon, but thou 
heard est not ; by such a providence, but thou obeyedst not : 
sleep on now, and take thy rest. "My people would not 
hearken to my voice, and Israel would none of me. So I 
gave them up to their own hearts' lust, and they walked in 
their own counsels." Fsa. SI : 11, 12. I have done with 
them, the treaty is ended ; I will make no more essays tow r - 
ards their conversion and salvation. " So I gave them up." 
Methinks it sounds as much as this : Take them, sin — take 
them, Satan, I will have no more to do with them. " Ephra- 
im is joined to idols : let him alone." Hosea 4 : 17. His 
heart is glued fast to sin, he is enamoured with other lovers, 
let him alone. beloved, it is a dreadful thing for God to 
say, Let this man alone in his formality, and that man in 
his carnal security. Let not this be misapplied by trembling 
souls under conviction. I know the fear of this judgment 
is upon their hearts ; nothing makes them tremble more 
than lest the day of grace be ended with them. But there 
is no ground for this fear, while the Spirit continues con- 
vincing and the soul trembling lest his convictions should 
prove ineffectual. Thus much of the nature, instruments, 
and manner of Christ's knocking at the door of a sinner's 
heart. Our way is now opened to an application of this 
point, which I will present in several particulars. 



128 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

Inference 1 . Into how deep a sleep hath sin cast the 
souls of sinners, that Christ must stand so long, and give 
such loud repeated knocks, before it will aivake and open 
to him ! There is the spirit of a deep sleep fallen upon men, 
like that into which God cast Adam. God speaks once, 
yea, twice, but man regards it not ; it is the hardest thing 
in the world to rouse and awaken a man out of his carnal 
security. Look over Satan's kingdom, and you find a gene- 
ral stillness and quietness among his subjects : there is no 
trouble for sin, no strivings after salvation, no crying out, 
"What must I do to be saved?" Acts 16 : 30. Go into 
the crowds of worldly men and women, and you find them 
all intent and busy about other matters. How long will 
you be in their company before you hear one groan for sin, 
or see one tear fall from their eyes on that account. 
what a marvellous thing is here ! Do not their consciences 
know the guilt that lies upon them ? Are they not aware 
of a day of reckoning which approaches ? Yes, yes, these 
things are not hid from their consciences. What art, then, 
is used to keep them so still and quiet ? Why, there are 
divers means used to still the consciences of sinners, and they 
do it effectually. There are four causes and occasions of 
this wonderful stillness in the souls of sinners. 

(1.) Ignorance of the nature of regenerating grace — 
taking that for regeneration which is not such : thus did the 
Jews confidently affirm God to be their God, yet they did 
not know him. John 8 : 54. How many poor ignorant 
creatures think there is no need of any other work of regen- 
eration, but what passed upon them in baptism. They 
were born and baptized Christians, and that is enough, they 
think, to save them. " We have Abraham to our father." 
Matt, 3 : 9. They thought it sufficient that Abraham's 
bloou ran in their veins, though there were not a spark of 
Abraham's faith kindled in their souls. The Lord forgive 
the sin of those men who lead souls into such fatal mistakes 



Til B BFI&I1 BTEH 

if men were but aware of the necessity of a greater and 
further work to pass on their souls than their baptism, paw 
eriess profession, or the Bimilar works which apjpear in 
mal hypocrites, heaven ami earth would ring with their cries. 
But ignorance of the nature and necessity of special regener- 
ating grace, like a opium, oasts the 

many into this deep sleep. 

(2.) F, fins and pollutions of the 

world stills and quiets the consciences of thousands : they 

have had a sober and fair education ; and though tin 

ice and regeneration, yet what saints do they seem to 
themselves, being adorned with sobriety and civility. This 
stilled the conscience of the Pharisee : " God, I thank thee 
that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adul- 
terers, or even as this publican." Luke 18:11. Thus, 
like delicate Agag, they pride themselves in moral and so- 
cial virtues, wherein many thousands of the heathen were 
better than themselves; but justice will hew them to pieces, 
as Agag was, notwithstanding all their moral ornaments 
and endowments. 

(3.) The strict performance of the external duties oj 
religion quiets the consciences of many. They question not 
but those who do so well shall fare well, and flatter them- 
selves that God will never damn men and women who keej: 
their church and say their prayers as they do. Thus the 
carnal Jews deluded themselves, crying, " The temple of tin 
Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these." Jer. 7:4. As 
malefactors, in soipp countries, flee to the church from the 
hand of justice, so ao these ; but God will pluck them from 
the horns of the altar, and convince them that the empty 
name of religion is no security from damnation. 

(4.) Many consciences are quieted in a natural, sinful 
state, by misinterpreting the voice of providence. It may 
be that God prospers your earthly affairs, succeeds and 
smiles upon your undertakings ; and this you conclude must 

6* 



130 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE BOOH. 

be a token of his love and favor. But alas, this is a great 
mistake : may the Lord give you better evidences of his love 
than these ; for who prosper more in the world than wicked 
men ? And who are more crossed than the people of God ? 
Read Job 21, and Psalm 73, and compare both with Eccl. 
9:1, and you will quickly see the vanity of all hopes built 
en such a foundation. But by such things as these the god 
of this world blinds the eyes of multitudes. 

2. If every conviction be a knock of Christ, hoiv deeply 
are we all concerned in the success of convictions. Con- 
viction is an embryo of the new creature : if it come to a 
perfect new birth, it brings forth salvation to your souls ; if it 
fails, you are finally lost. It is of infinite moment, therefore, 
to every one, to be tender of these convictions of conscience. 
It is true, conviction and conversion are two things : there 
may be conviction without conversion, though there can be 
no conversion without conviction. The blossoms on the 
trees in the spring of the year cannot properly be called fruit, 
but are rather the rudiments of fruit, or something in order 
to fruit. If they open kindly, and knit or set firmly, perfect 
fruit follows them ; but if a blight or a frosty morning kill 
them, no fruit is to be expected. Thus it is here. Great 
care, therefore, ought to be taken about the preservation and 
success of convictions, both by the soul itself that is under 
them, and by all others who are concerned about them. 

(1.) Wliat care should the soul itself liave, on ivhom 
convictions are ivrought, Beware, friends, how you quench 
them or hinder their operations, lest you hinder, as much as 
in you lies, the formation of Christ in your souls. The life 
of your souls is bound up in the life of your convictions. I 
know it is hard for men to dwell with their own convic- 
tions : guilt and wrath are sad subjects for men's thoughts 
to dwell upon ; but it is far better to dwell with the thoughts 
of sin and wrath here, than to lie under them in hell for 
ever. You may be freed from your convictions and your 



IP BPJ B IT BTB.IVING 131 

salvation together. Bo not too eager aftor peace — a good 
trouble is better than a false peace. And on the other hand, 
beware that your convictions turn not into discouragements to 
faith ; this will cross the proper intention of them : they are 
Christ's knocks for entrance, and were never intended to be 
bars or stumbling-blocks, but steps in your way to Christ. 

(2.) Let all that are concerned about convinced souls, 
beware what counsels they give and what rules they pre- 
scribe, lest they destroy all in the bud. 

There are two errors too commonly committed : one in 
excess, persuading souls under trouble of conscience that 
there is no coming to Christ for them, unless they are so and 
so prepared, humbled just to such a degree : this is danger- 
ous counsel ; it overheats the troubles of conscience, and keeps 
the soul from its proper present duty and remedy. I am 
sure Paul and Silas took no such course with the convinced 
jailer, Acts 16:31, nor Peter with the three thousand 
wounded consciences, Acts 2 : 38. Nor do I find where God 
has stated the time and degree of spiritual troubles, so that 
there must be no approaches to Christ in the way of faith, 
until they have suffered them so long and to such a height. 
If they have imbittered sin to the soul, and made it see the 
necessity of a Saviour, it cannot move too soon after Christ 
in the w T ay of faith. Let no man set bounds where God 
sets none. 

There is another error committed in defect; when prom- 
ises and comforts are applied before the nature of faith is 
known, or one act of reliance put forth towards Christ. 
These hasty comforts come to nothing ; they will not, they 
cannot stand. It is a dangerous thing to apply gospel-cor- 
dials, and pour out the precious ointment of the promises 
upon them who were never heart-sick for sin — to address to 
such persons upon every slight trouble, which is but as an 
early dew, the peculiar consolations of penitent and believ- 
ing souls. How many such unskilful empirics are there in 



132 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE BOOK. 

every place ! Such as the prophet Jeremiah complains of: 
" They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people 
slightly, saying, Peace, peace ; when there is no peace." 
Jer. G : 14. Remember, that the foundation is now laying 
for eternity, and that this is the time of deep consideration ; 
men must ponder the terms and count the cost, and deliber- 
ately accept and close with Christ, before the consolations of 
the promises can properly be administered to them. 

3. What a blessing is a rousing, faithful ministry 
among a people. By such a ministry Christ knocks power- 
fully : this is one of the greatest blessings God can bestow 
Upon a people, when he sends among them powerful and 
judicious preachers of the gospel, under whose ministry their 
consciences cannot sleep quietly. These are the instruments 
by which Christ knocks at men's hearts ; and as for thos* 
that sew pillows for drowsy sinners to sleep quietly upon 
the Lord owns them not as his. " Thy prophets have seeb, 
vain and foolish things for thee : and they have not discov 
ered thine iniquity." Lam. 2 : 14. 

It is true that those ministers that give men no rest and 
quietness in their sins, must expect but little rest and quiet- 
ness themselves. What is it for ministers to preach home 
to the consciences of others, but to pull down the rage of 
the world upon their own heads ? But certainly you will 
have cause to bless God to eternity, for casting your lot un- 
der such a ministry ; and the Lord accounts such a mercy 
sufficient to recompense any outward affliction that lies upon 
you. You fare richly under such doctrine, though the Lord 
should feed you with the bread of affliction, and give you 
the waters of adversity to drink ; this makes amends for all. 
Thine eyes shall behold thy teachers, and they shall be 
driven no more into corners. Isa. 30 : 20. blessed be 
God that England's corners are this day emptied, that its 
pulpits may be filled with laborious, faithful ministers. 
that the knocks of Christ may be heard in all the cities 



N . 

\ow as, and vi The kingdom oi 

is oome nigh onto us; thii mercy ii invaluable : pray that 
Ihe Lord ma] oontinue it, and make all your ministers and 
means, w he1 her public or prival ifhl. 

l. L : all men beta may deafen their 

nd of ( 7//7>/\s knocks and cells in 
5 I. W'hai pernicious enemies to the souls of men 
arc those persons who torn away men's cars from attending 
to the knocks and calls of Christ in his word. *>wr\\ are, 
1. Profane, wicked men, who, like ESlymas the Bore 
make it their business by wicked insinuations and jeers to 
turn away men's ears from the gospel. "0 full of all 
subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou ene- 
my of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert, the 
lighl ways of the Lord?" Acts 13:10. All opposition to 
godliness has a spice of devilishness, and no child more 
his father than a scoffing enemy resembles his 
nit her the devil. But blessed be God for the good provi- 
dence which, in a great measure, has stopped the mouths 
both of the father and his children. 2. Take heed of carnal 
and ungodly relations, who discourage and threaten their 
servants, and all who depend on them, from attending upon 
the means, or giving way to the convictions which God has 
awakened in their hearts. Cruel parents, who had rather 
see their children turned into their graves, than turning to 
of serious godliness! that any should dare to 
quench the beginnings of spiritual life in those to whom they 
were instruments to convey natural life. 3. Take heed of 
the world, its distracting cares and pleasures ; what a din and 
noise do these things make in the cars of men. " The cares 
of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts 
of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh 
unfruitful." Mark 4: 19. Tell not them of getting Christ, 
must study how to get bread. Thefi me of the 

distracting and diverting sounds which drown the voice of 



134 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR 

Christ's knocks and calls in the gospel. As you value your 
souls, beware of them. 

Christ is now come near us in the gospel. Behold, he 
stands at the door and knocks : and I this day demand your 
answer — in his name I do solemnly demand it ; what shall 
[ return to him who sent me ? "What sayest thou, sinner ? 
Wilt thou open to Christ, or wilt thou shut him out, and 
with him thy own pardon, peace, and salvation ? Once 
more, let me try the force of a few more arguments upon 
your hearts, and refute your vain pleas to the contrary. 
Methinks no heart should be able to resist such motives 
and rational persuasions as these following will be found 
to be. 

Motive 1. You are in extreme need of Christ; you 
want him more than bread or breath. Many things are 
convenient for your bodies, but Christ is the " one thing 
needful" for your souls. Luke 10 : 42. Necessity is an engine 
that will open any thing that can be opened : necessity will 
make all fly before it. Now there is a plain, present, abso- 
lute necessity lying on every one of you to open your heart 
to Christ, and that without delay. Necessity goes before 
the face of Christ, to open the way for him into the heart. 
Thou must have him, or be lost for ever. Christ and faith 
are not the may-be, but the must-be, to the happiness of thy 
soul. A man may be poor, and happy ; reproached, and 
blessed ; but he cannot be Christless and safe, nor Christ- 
less and comfortable. You must have Christ, or you can- 
not have life, John 3:36; you must have Christ, or you 
can have no hope, Col. 1 : 27. Christ and life, Christ and 
hope, go together : no Christ, no life ; no Christ, no hope. 
Sinner, thou must have Christ, or thou canst have no par- 
don ; for Christ and pardon are undivided. Eph. 1:7. In 
a word, you must have Christ, or you can have no salva- 
tion. Acts 4 :12. Well, then, if thou canst have no life 



THB BPIRII STRIVING. 

nor hope, no pardon nor salvation, without Christ, then • 
plain iurr i before Christ to open In* waj into thy 

hearl : methinks thou shouldst now lay, Then will 1 open 
to Christ, whatever the termi are. Come sufferings, I 
reproaches, yea, death itself, all ii one; Christ 1 must have, 
ami Christ I will have : neoessity ii laid upon me, and my 
heart is opened to Christ by it. Woe to mo lor ever, if 1 
nuss of Christ. 

Motive 2. The Lord Jesus is this day come nigh to 

your sou/s. I may say to you as Christ did to the Jews, 
<% The kingdom of Cod is come nigh unto you." Luke 10:9. 
The Lord grant he be not as nigh to some of you as ever 
lie shall be ; for he must come nearer, or else you are lost 
lor ever. It is not Christ among you in the means of grace, 
but Christ within you by the work of grace, which must be 
unto you " the hope of glory." Col. 1 : 27. He is not only 
among you in external means, but he is come into your un- 
derstandings and consciences ; yea, some motions of his you 
feel upon your affections : there wants but a little more to 
make you eternally happy. what would one effectual 
touch upon your wills be worth now ! The head-work is 
done ; that the heart- work were done too. You are almust 
saved ; but to be almost saved, is to be wholly and eternally 
lost, if it go no further. It is a sad thing for a man who 
hath one foot in heaven, to slide from thence into hell ; it is 
sad to be shipwrecked at the harbor's mouth. 

Motive 3. Jesus Christ has an unquestionable right 
r into and possess every one of your souls. Satan is 
but an usurper : Christ is your lawful owner and proprietor ; 
thy soul, sinner, hath not so full a title to thy body, as Christ 
hath to thy soul. Satan keeps Christ out of his right. Christ 
knocks at the door of his own house ; he built it, and there- 
fore may well claim admission into it : it is his own crea- 
ture. " By him were all things created that are in heaven 
and that are in earth, visible and invisible ;" bodies or souls. 



136 CHRIST KTCOCKINO AT THE DOOR. 

Col. 1 : 16. The invisible part, thy soul, is his workman- 
ship — a stately structure of his own raising. He has also 
a right by redemption ; Christ hath bought thy soul, and 
that at the invaluable price of his own blood. Who then 
can dispute the right of Christ to enter into his own house ? 
But, alas, he cometh to his own and his own receive him 
not. John 1:11. 

Motive 4. Open the door to Christ, for a train of bless- 
ings and mercies come in with him — a troop of privileges 
follow him. In the same day and hour that Christ comes 
into thine heart by a full and deliberate choice, a pardon 
comes with him of all the sins that ever thou hast commit- 
ted, in thought, word, or action. Will such a pardon be 
welcome to thy soul ? Then let Christ be welcome, for 
where Christ comes, pardon comes. Eph. 1:7. If you open 
to Christ, you open to peace, and who would shut the door 
of his soul against peace ? If peace be welcome, let Christ 
be welcome ; for peace follows faith in Christ. Horn. 5:1. 
Where Christ comes, liberty comes. " If the Son therefore 
shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." John 8 : 36. 
Are you in love with bonds and fetters ? Satan's laws are 
written in blood. Christ's yoke is easy, and his commands 
not grievous. If you love liberty, love Christ. In a word, 
where Christ comes, salvation comes ; for he is " the author 
of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." Heb. 5 : 9. 
If therefore you love pardon, peace, liberty, and salvation, 
shut not the door against Christ ; for all these follow him 
wherever he goes. 

Motive 5. Christ this day solemnly demands entrance 
into thy soul ; he begs thee to open to him, 2 Cor. 5 : 20 ; 
he commands thee to open unto him, 1 John 3 : 23 ; he 
denounces eternal ruin to those who refuse him entrance. 
Now consider well — here is entrance demanded under pain 
of the eternal wrath of God : this demand is recorded in 
heaven ; at your own peril be it, if you shut the door against 



Til B BP] R i:;7 

him. Only this will I say in my Redeemer's behalf; if yon 
refuse, bear witness heaven and earth this day that Christ 
solemnly demanded entrance into thy soul, and was refused ; 
bear witness that the door was shut, against the only Re- 
deemer, who intreated, oommanded, and threatened < 
damnation to the rejecters of him. Oh, methinks that 
scripture, Prov. 1 :24— 31, should strike terror into the very 
centre of the soul that refuses the odors of Christ ! 

MOTIVE 6, And so 1 have done my master's errand : if 

now refute the knock of Christ at yonr hearts^ he may 

knock more; and where are you then? There is a 

knock which will he the last knock, a call which will he his 

last call ; and after that no more knocks or calls, hut an 

eternal silence as to any overture of mercy. 

Objection 1. But if I do open to Christ, he will never 
come in to such a filthy, polluted, sinful soul as mine is. 

Answer. Who saith so ? Who dare affirm so impudent 
a falsehood in the very face of the text, " If any man open 
to me, I will come in to him ?" 

Objection 2. If I open to Christ, I must bid farewell to 
rest in this world ; reproaches, sufferings, and losses follow 
him. 

Answer. If Christ, pardon, and salvation are, in thy 
estimation, not worth the enduring and suffering these small 
things, sure thou valuest Christ and thy soul at a low rate. 
who can sufficiently bewail the ignorance and folly of un- 
believers, who will sell their souls and hopes of heaven for 
such trifles ! And if Christ and thy soul must part on these 
terms, then hear me, sinner, and let it sink into thine heart : 

Thy damnation ivill be just ; for thou hadst thine 
own choice, and hast deliberately preferred the insignificant 
trifles of this world before Christ and salvation. It was 
plainly told thee what the issue of thy rejecting Christ would 
be; and yet, after sufficient warning, thou hast venl 
upon it. Whatever other sinners will plead, I know not, 



138 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

but as for thee, thou must be speechless. Matt. 22 : 12. If 
thou die Christless, thou must appear at his bar speechless; 
and the day of judgment will be the day of the revelation 
of the righteous judgment of God. Rom. 2 : 5. 

It will also be unavoidable, for there is no other way 
to salvation but this. Acts 4:12. No Christ, no heaven ; 
no faith, no Christ. " How shall we escape, if we neglect 
so great salvation?" Heb. 2:3. Mercy itself cannot 
save thee out of Christ, for all the saving mercy of God 
is dispensed to men through him. Jude 21. It is to no 
purpose to cry for mercy, when Christ, in whom all the 
mercies of God are dispensed to men, is rejected by thee 

This doctrine winds up in consolation to all such as, 
hearing the knocks of Christ, have opened or are now re 
solved to open their hearts to him ; and that nothing, hence- 
forth, may keep Christ and their souls asunder, to such I 
shall address the following grounds of comfort. 

1. An opening heart to Christ is a ivork ivlwlly and 
altogether supernatural ; a special work of the Spirit of 
God, never found upon any but an elect soul. There are 
common gifts of the Spirit, such as knowledge, vanishing 
convictions, etc., but the opening of the heart by faith is 
the special, saving, and peculiar work of the Spirit. " This 
is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom He hath 
sent." John 6 : 29. Yea, the almighty power of God, the 
exceeding greatness of his power, is exerted in the work of 
faith. Eph. 1:19. It rises not out of nature, as common 
gifts do ; but of this it is expressly said, " Not of yourselves, 
it is the gift of God." Eph. 2 : 8. Where this work is effect- 
ually wrought, we may reason as solidly as comfortably from 
it, both backward to the electing love of God, and forward 
to our eternal glorification with him. Horn. 8 : 30. 

2. The opening of thy heart to Christ by saving faith, 
gives tliee an interest in Christ the very same hour The 



THE SPIRIT STRIVING. 139 

relation is then constituted, the conjugal bond is fastened 
between him and thy soul. "As many as received him, to 
them gave he power," right or privilege, "to become the 
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 
1 : 12. Yon neither need nor may expect an extraordinary 
messenger or voice from heaven, to tell you that Christ is 
yours and you are his ; you have a better foundation in this 
word, and work of faith. For my part, if God will give me the 
clear and satisfying experience of this work upon my heart, 
1 would never desire more satisfaction on this side heaven. 
I know not but the devil may counterfeit an extraordinary 
voice, and cheat the soul by a lying oracle ; but if I really 
feel my heart and will sincerely opening to Christ upon gos- 
pel terms, I am sure there is no deceit in that. 

3 . The opening of thy heart to Christ by faith is a 
good assurance that heaven shall be opened to thy soul here- 
after. Heaven is shut against none but those who shut 
their hearts against Christ by unbelief. Will you bar Christ 
out of your souls by ignorance and unbelief, and then cry, 
Lord, open to us ? God will open to none but them that 
open to Christ. Eternity itself shall but suffice to bless God 
for this opening act of faith. " He that belie veth shall be 
saved." Mark 16 : 16. 

4. The opening of thy soul to Christ by faith makes it 
Christ's habitation for ever : in that hour out go sin and 
Satan, and in come Christ and grace. " If any man open 
unto me, I will come in to him," saith the text. Of such a 
soul Christ saith, as it was said of the temple, " The Lord 
hath chosen Zion ; he hath desired it for his habitation. This 
is my rest for ever ; here w r ill I dwell, for I have desired it." 
Psa. 132 : 13, 14. The soul now becomes a hallow T ed tem- 
ple to the Lord ; as he hath said, " I will dwell in them, 
and walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they shall 
be my people." 2 Cor. 6:16. what a heaven on earth 
is here ! Christ dwelling in the soul is the glory of the 



140 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOU. 

soul, as God's dwelling in the temple was the glory of the 
temple. 

5. In a word, the opening of the heart to Christ is the 
ivork which anstvers the great design of the gospel. Where- 
fore has God set up ordinances and ministers, yea, wherefore 
is the Spirit sent forth, but to open the hearts of sinners to 
Christ by faith ? When this is done, the main intention of 
the gospel is attained ; the union is effected between Christ 
and the soul ; it is now put out of hazard. The whole work 
of the gospel after that, is but to build up, confirm, and com- 
fort the soul, ripen its implanted graces, and make it meet 
for glory. 



UNION AND CO OK. 141 

CHAPTER VI. 

CHRIST'S EARNEST KM!! I'.ATY FOR UNION AND 
COMMUNION WITH SINNERS. 

"BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK." Rev. 3:20. 

Here are pains and patience, all means used by Christ 
to gain entrance into the souls of sinners. The language 
speaks the earnestness of his suit, and the vehemency of his 
desire to be in union with the souls of men. The sixth doc- 
trine, therefore, will be, 

Jesus Christ is an earnest suitor for union and corn 
munion with the souls of sinners. 

This doctrine lies directly and fully in the intention of 
the text. In opening it, two things must be spoken to, in 
the doctrinal part : the demonstration of this truth, that lie 
is so ; and the marvellous grace and condescension of Christ, 
that he should be so. 

The demonstration of this truth, that Christ is an ear- 
nest suitor for union and communion ivith the souls of sin- 
ners, I shall draw from a view and consideration of the dis- 
positions and actions of the Lord Jesus towards sinners from 
first to last. And when you have compared them all to- 
gether, and by them seen the temper of his heart, how great 
and clear a light will shine upon this point. That his heart 
hath still inclined towards union and communion with sin- 
ful man, will appear by considering him before his incarna- 
tion ; in the days of his flesh ; at his death ; and since his 
ascension into heaven. 

I. Consider him before his incarnation, and you will 
find two things in that state which plainly speak his desire 
after union with us. 

1. In the covenant of redemption he made with God 
concerning us before this world had a being; for such a 



142 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

covenant and promise did really pass between him and the 
Father before all time, or else I know not how to understand 
this scripture : "In hope of eternal life, which G-od, that 
cannot he, promised before the world began." Titus 1 : 2. 
To whom could that promise be made, which bears date be- 
fore the creation, but unto Christ ? What else can this mean 
but the covenant of redemption made between the Father and 
the Son ? the terms whereof are set down in Isa. 53 : 10, 11, 
where you find what Christ was to do, namely, " to make his 
soul an offering for sin" — and what should be his reward 
for pouring out his soul unto death, namely, " To see his 
seed ; to see the travail of his soul," even a church purchased 
with his own blood. Whether this be not a great demonstra- 
tion of the inclination of Christ's heart towards union and 
communion with sinners, let all men judge. what a value 
did Christ set upon our souls, that upon such costly terms 
he would consent to redeem them ! Unto this agreement God 
the Father held him : " God spared not his own Son." Rom. 
8 : 32. And this very covenant Christ pleaded with the Fa- 
ther : "I have manifested thy name unto the men which 
thou gavest me out of the world : thine they were, and thou 
gavest them me." John 17:6. This plainly shows the 
vehement desire of Christ's heart to be in union with men ; 
according to Prov. 8:31: " Rejoicing in the habitable part 
of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men." 
Blessed Jesus, nothing but the strength of thine own desire 
and love could have drawn thee out of that bosom of de- 
lights to suffer so many things for the sake of sinners. 

II. Let us consider Christ's disposition towards union 
and communion with sinners, m the days of his flesh ; 
and every thing done by Christ carries and confirms tins 
conclusion. 

1. Christ's assumption of our nature manifested Ins 
desire after union with us. Herein he gave two incompar- 
able proofs of his transcendent love to us, and desire after us. 



UNION AND COH MINI 1 [J 

(1.) In pas^i ng l' if a superior and more excellent natwe 

11 Verily In* took not on liim the nature of angels. " Heb. 

2:10. Angela were excellent creatures, bul behold those 

- of gold cast into the fire, and earthen potsherds fitted 

lor i:lory. It is true, the angels who kept their first estate 

are members of Christ's kingdom ; ho is a bead to them by 

way of dominion, hut unto us by way of vital union. Christ 
takes the believer into a nearer union with himself than any 

angel in heaven. For the multitudes of apostate angels he 
never designed recovery, but left them as they were before, 
bound in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great 
day. Jude 6. 

(2.) In uniting our nature to himself, and that after 
sin had blasted its beauty, and let in so many direful calam- 
ities upon it. He was found in the likeness of sinful flesh, 
Rom. 8:3; that is, he was subject to weariness, pains, and 
death, which, though there is no sin in them, are the effects 
and consequences of sin : such a nature he took into personal 
union with himself, not to experience any new pleasure in 
it, but to enable him to suffer and satisfy for us ; and thus 
to give a convincing proof of the strength of his love, and the 
vehemency of his desire to us. His personal union with our 
nature shows his desire after a mystical union with our per- 
sons. He would never have been the Son of man, but to 
make us the sons and daughters of the living God ; he came 
in our likeness, that we, by sanctification, might be con- 
formed to his likeness. Behold how near Christ comes to us 
by his incarnation. what a stoop did he make therein 
to recover us. Rather than lose us, he was contented to lose 
his manifested glory for a time ; for his incarnation made him 
"of no reputation." Phil. 2:7. Behold the desire of the 
Saviour after union with sinners. 

2. The whole life of Christ ujoon earth was an evident 
proof and demonstration of the desire of his heart to he in 
union and communion w r ith us : " For their sakes I sanctify 



144 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOI^ 

myself. " John 17 : 19. The life of Christ was wholly set 
apart for us ; therefore it is said, " Unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given." Isa. 9:6. What was the errand 
upon which Christ came into this world, but to " seek and to 
save that which was lost?" Luke 19 : 10. 

All the miracles he wrought on earth were so many 
works of mercy. He could have wrought miracles to destroy 
and ruin such as received him not ; but his almighty power 
was employed to heal and to save the bodies of men, that 
thereby he might win their souls unto himself. " God anoint- 
ed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power ; 
who went about doing good, and healing all that were 
oppressed of the devil ; for God was with him." Acts 
10 : 38. When the apostles desired a commission from him 
to command fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans, he 
rebuked them, saying, " Ye know not what manner of spirit 
ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's 
lives, but to save them." Luke 9 : 55, 56. The whole life 
of Christ in this world was nothing else but a wooing, draw- 
ing motive to the hearts of sinners ; he rejected not the vilest 
of sinners. Luke 7 : 39. He rejected none that came to 
him ; he would not have even little children forbidden to be 
brought unto him. Mark 10:14. What his winning com- 
passion should be, was long before predicted by the prophet : 
"A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax 
shall he not quench." Isa. 42 : 3. Christ was in the world 
as a magnet drawing all men to him ; his deportment was 
every way suitable to his commission, which was to preach 
good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, 
to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the 
prison to them that are bound. Isa. 61:1. 

3. As his life, so his doctrine ivas a most pathetic invi- 
tation unto sinners. " Never man spake like this man." 
John 7 : 46. Whenever he opened his lips, heaven opened, 
the very heart of God was opened to sinners ; the whole 



UNi M M I \ [i 145 

stream and current of his doctrine was one oontinued p 
lui persuasive to draw sinners to liim. This was hii lan- 
guage: "Come unto nu', all ye that Labor ami arc heavy 

laden, and 1 will give you rest." .Malt. 11 : 23. "In the 
last day, that great day of the feast, .Jesus stood and cried, 
If any man thirst, let. him conic unto nic and drink." John 
He compares Ins invitations to the call of a hen, to 
gather her chickens under her wings: "0 Jerusalem, Jeru- 
salem, how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings !" 
Luke 13 : 34. Certainly the whole gospel is nothing but the 
charming voice of the heavenly bridegroom. 

4. The joy lie always expressed for the success of the 
gospel, shows him to be an earnest suitor for the hearts of 
sinners. It is very remarkable that all the evangelists who 
have recorded the life of Christ, never mention one laugh 
or smile from him, for he was " a man of sorrows." Yet 
once w r e read that he rejoiced in spirit ; and you shall see the 
occasion of it in Luke 10 : 21 : " In that hour Jesus rejoiced 
in spirit." And w r hat w r as it that gladdened his heart 
but the report brought him by the seventy, w r ho returned 
with joy, saying, " Lord, even the devils are subject to us 
through thy name!" And he said unto them, "I beheld 
Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Ver. 17, 18. Satan's 
kingdom was going down in the world, and the mysteries of 
salvation were revealed unto babes ; this made his holy heart 
leap with joy, to behold the success of the gospel destroying 
Satan's kingdom, and the poorest, meanest among men en- 
lightened and converted by it. This w r as a cordial to his 
very soul, and showed the earnestness of his desire after 
union and communion with sinners. 

5. His sor rotes and mourning upon account of the 
obstinacy and unbelief of sinners, speak the vehemence of 
his desire after union with them. It is said, Mark 
''When he had looked round about on them with a 



M6 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE POOR. 

being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." You see 
that a hard heart is a grief to Jesus Christ. how tenderly 
did Christ mourn over Jerusalem, when it. rejected him. It 
is said that when Jesus came nigh to the city, he wept over 
it. Luke 19 :41. The Redeemer's tears wept over obsti- 
nate Jerusalem spoke the zeal and feivor of his concern for 
their salvation ; how loath Christ is to give up sinners. What 
a mournful voice is that in John 5 : 40 : " Ye will not come 
to me, that ye might have life." How ready would I be to 
give you life ; but you would rather die than come to me for 
it. What can Christ do more to express his willingness ? 
All the sorrows that ever touched the heart of Christ from 
men, were on this account, that they would not yield to his 
calls and invitations. 

6. This appears to be the great design of Christ, by the 
labors he underwent day and night to accomplish it. Many 
weary journeys Christ took, many sermons and prayers he 
preached and poured out, and all with the design to open 
the hearts of sinners to him, and win the consent of their 
wills to become his. This was the work which he preferred 
to his necessary food : " My meat is to do the will of him 
that sent me, and to finish his work." John 4 : 34. As if he 
had said, My bringing home the elect of God and saving them 
from the wrath to come, is more to me than meat and drink. 
So vehement and intense were his desires after the winning 
of sinners, that he would lose no occasion to accomplish it. 
If he were never so weary with his travels and labors, and 
an occasion offered to save a lost soul, he would be sure to 
improve it. You have an instance of this in John 4 : Then 
cometh he to a city of Samaria, called Sychar. Now Jacob's 
well was there. Jesus therefore being weary with his jour- 
ney, sat thus on the well. Christ was weary with his jour- 
ney, and sat on the well for a little rest and refreshment in 
the heat of the day. At the same time comes a woman of 
Samaria, to draw water ; a great sinner she was : Chritt 



117 

inrapassionately beholding this miserable object, forgets his 
own weariness, and presently preaches repentance to this 
sinner and opens her heart ; a greater refreshment to aim 

than that well could afford by giving him a scat to sit on or 
water to drink. 

7. The great encouragements Christ alivays gave to 

coming and willing souls, plainly show the earnest desire 
of his heart after union with them. Never were such en- 
couragements given as Christ gave to draw the souls of men 
to him. It is remarkable in what general terms and forms 
of expression he delivered them, that none might be discour- 
aged, but come in hope to him : " Come unto me, all ye that 
labor." Matt. 11 : 28. " If any man thirst." John 7 : 37. 
All the terms of invitation are exceeding large, which shows 
the desire of his heart to be so also ; and his practice was 
answerable to his invitation ; his mercies and compassions 
never failed w T hen the vilest sinners came to him in repent- 
ance and faith. You read that when Christ sat at meat in 
the house of Simon the Pharisee, there came in a poor con- 
vinced sinner, who had guilt enough upon her to sink ten 
thousand souls to hell ; this poor woman comes with great 
humility- unto Christ, not presuming to come before his face, 
but falls down behind him, kisses his feet, washes them with 
tears, and wipes them with the hair of her head — all demon- 
strations of a broken heart. And how did the merciful Jesus 
welcome this poor sinner ? He seals her pardon, commends 
the fervor of her affections, and sends her away a joyful 
soul, Luke 7 : 37-50 ; herein making good that gracious 
promise, " Him that cometh to me I w r ill hi no w r ise cast out." 
John 6 : 37. 

8. The dreadful threateni?igs of Christ against all 
who refuse him and shut the doors of their hearts against 
him, show his vehement desire to prevent the loss and 
ruin of souls. The threatenings of Christ are not intend- 
ed to discourage any from coming to him, to fright away 



148 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

souls from him ; no, that is not their intention : but to 
bring them under a blessed necessity of compliance with his 
terms. the dreadful threat enings which, like claps of 
thunder, come from the mouth of Christ against all who 
refuse or delay to come unto him : " If ye believe not that 
I am he, ye shall die in your sins." John 8 : 24. "He that 
belie veth not the Son shall not see life." John 3 : 36. 
What a terrible thunder-clap is that against all unbelievers. 
"He that believeth not, shall be damned." Mark 16 : 16. 
All these and many more warnings are given from heaven 
to prevent the ruin of men ; the very threatenings of the 
gospel carry a design of mercy in them : damnation is threat- 
ened, that it may be prevented. 

9. And then, hi the last place, herein appears the earnest- 
ness of Christ after union with sinners, that when he could 
be no longer a preacher to this world in his own person, he 
ordained a succession of ministers, in his bodily absence 
-from us, to gather and build the church, and to continue to 
the end of the world — to carry on the suit that Christ had 
begun, as long as there was one elect soul in the world lying 
in the state of sin and nature. 

Christ could not always abide here ; he must die, or we 
could not live ; he must rise again, or we could not be justi- 
fied ; our interests called him to another place and state. 
Now when Christ was to ascend to heaven, he chooses and 
calls men, men like ourselves, whose presence and appear- 
ance should not affright or discourage us — who should treat 
with us in a familiar way about the great concerns of our 
salvation in his name and stead. " "We are ambassadors 
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us : we pray 
you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. 
o : 20. He did not commission angels to be his legates, 
their presence would confound and terrify us ; but men cast 
in the same mould with yourselves, who may say to you as 
Elihu said to Job,. "Behold, I am according to thy wish in 



UNION AND COMMUNIOH. 149 

God's stead : I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my 
terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand he 
heavy upon thee." Job 33 : 6, 7. Upon these commis- 
sioned officers of Christ he poured forth excellent gifts, in 
area! and useful variety, to lit the capacities and various dis- 

itions of men's souls. When he ascended up on high ho 
gave gifts unto men, Psalm G8 : 18 ; this ministerial office 
is by him established in the church, "till we all come in the 
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fulness of Christ." Eph. 4 : 13. Unto these his ministeis 
he gives the highest encouragements to quicken them in their 
labors. If one do one part of the work and another the 
other — if one soweth and another reapeth, he tells them 
both, " He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit 
unto life eternal ; that both he that soweth and he that reap- 
eth may rejoice together." John 4:36. He tells them that 
every soul they win to him shall be as a jewel in their crown 
of glory. " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteous- 
ness, as the stars for ever and ever." Dan. 12:3. What 
is Christ's intention in all these encouragements to his min- 
isters ? Surely, it is as if he should say to his servants, 
Study hard, pray earnestly, plead with sinners affectionately ; 
every soul you win to me shall make an addition to your 
glory in heaven. 

"Weigh now the force of this second demonstration from 
the life of Christ. Will you have a proof of Christ's earnest- 
ness to gain the hearts of shiners ? his whole life on earth 
was a proof of it ; his doctrine, so full of pathetic invitations, 
proves it ; the joy of his heart at the success of the gospel — 
his tears and sorrows for the obstinacy of unbelievers — his 
labors and travels to gather sinners to him — his admirable 
encouragements put into general invitations — his dreadful 
threatenings to all who reject his invitations — his commis 



150 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR,. 

sioning and qualifying, continuing and encouraging his min- 
isters to carry on his suit in his name — all these things make 
a full demonstration that Jesus Christ is an earnest suitor 
for union and communion with the souls of sinners. 

III. The death of Christ is the fullest demonstration 
that ever was or can be given of his love to sinners, and 
desire after union and communion with them. His doctrine 
and life discovered much, but his sufferings and death abun- 
dantly more. In his doctrine he spent his breath, but upon 
the cross he spent his blood. Here he comes suing to the 
souls of sinners in his scarlet robes, his red garments — gar- 
ments dipt in his own blood. You may now propound the 
same admiring question the church propounded, Isa. 63 : 1, 2 : 
" Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments 
from Bozrah ; this that is glorious in his apparel, travel- 
ling in the greatness of his strength ? Wherefore art thou 
red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth 
in the wine-fat ?" Wilt thou know, sinner, why he comes 
to thee in red garments ? It is to give thee such a demon- 
stration of his love as may draw forth all the love of thy 
heart to him ; by this blood he has purchased thy soul as a 
spouse for himself. Acts 20 : 28. There are two things in 
the death of Christ which prove the fervor of his desires 
after us : the greatness of the sufferings which he endured, 
and the end to which they were designed ; both of which 
show how the heart of Christ is heated with the vehemency 
of his own desires after union with our poor souls. 

1. The greatness of the sufferings of Christ shows tLl 
ardor of his affection. Christ's sufferings are twofold, exter- 
nal in his body, and internal in his soul ; both together 
making up the fulness of his sufferings. When you shall 
see what Christ has endured to purchase you to himself, 
then you may learn what a value he placed upon you, and 
what desire he has after you. 

(1.) The external sufferings of Christ in his body were 






I N 1 5 1 

exceedingly great, for the death h< v died was no1 b natural, 

but a violent death. This death was not in accordance with 
his nature ; for he was nol a sinner, and no punishment \ 
due to him. His body waa intended for a sacrifice to G< 
and as a sacrifice it died ; therefore it is said, he was "put to 
death in the flesh," 1 Pel -his soul and body were 

violently sunder in the fulness of his strength and 

vigor. Aiul this violent death was also a cursed death : he 
was 'made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every 
one that hangeth on a tree." Gal. 3 : 13. A ceremonial 
curse was affixed to the death of the cross ; he that is hanged 
is accursed of God, saith the law : the intention of that death 
was to show that the person who died was so vile that he 
was not worthy to touch heaven or earth, and therefore was 
hanged between both. Moreover, the violent death Christ 
died was a most painful death — full of torture, slow and 
lingering; the cross was a rack to the body of Christ : "I 
may tell all my bones ; they look and stare upon me." 
Psalm 22 : 17. But yet, 

(2.) The sufferings of his body were but the body of his 
sufferings ; the sufferings of his soul were the very soul of 
his sufferings. These inward sufferings of Christ may like- 
wise be considered tw T o ways. 1. In his bitter sufferings in 
the garden. what agonies and confficts, what sharp en- 
counters and distresses his soul there met with from the 
wrath of God endured for your sakes. Once and again he 
cried out, Abba, Father, all things are possible, let this cup 
pass ; Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass : thrice he 
returned to the same place, falling on his face to the ground. 
The sufferings of his soul threw his blessed body into a 
bloody agony : " His sweat was as it were great drops of 
bbod falling down to the ground." Luke 22:44. 2. In 
the fulness of his sufferings on the cross. There was his soul 
for a time deserted of the Father, as to any communications 
of joy and comfort from him, which occasioned the bitter 



152 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

outcry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 
Matt. 27 : 46. Never was such a cry heard since the heav- 
ens were spread over the earth ; never had Christ seen a 
frown in his Father's face, from eternity, before this time ; 
but now the smiling face of God was hid, and a strong im- 
pression of his wrath made upon his Son. And now, breth- 
ren, you see what Christ hath endured both in his body and 
in his soul ; and all for the sake of sinners. What think 
you now ; is not Christ an earnest suitor ? Does not all this 
fully and plainly speak the ardor of his love, the fervor of 
his desire after union and communion with us ? If this do 
not, then nothing can demonstrate love and desire. 

2. Let us next consider the intention of these suffer ingt 
of Christ, and how this also demonstrates the earnestness, 
of his desire after union with us. There was a double use 
and end of the sufferings of Christ. 

(1.) One end of Christ's death was to purcJmse our free- 
dom, that we might be capable of being espoused to him ; 
for we were not in a capacity, while under the curse of 
the law, to be married unto Christ. The apostle compares 
the law to a husband, to whom the wife is bound as long 
as he liveth, and not capable of a second marriage until 
her husband be dead. Rom. 7 : 2, 3. The death of Christ 
was the death of the law, as a covenant of works hold- 
ing us under its curse; and so it gave us a manumission 
or freedom from that bond, and a capacity of espousals to 
Christ : "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead 
to the law by the body of Christ ; that ye should be married 
to another, even to him who is raised from the dead." Verse 
4. A slave to another is not capable of being disposed of 
in marriage until made free : you were in bondage to the 
law — the slaves of sin and Satan ; Christ bought your lib- 
erty, for his blood is called a ransom, Matt. 20 : 28, and so 
put you into a capacity of being espoused to himself. Here 
you see Christ loved you not for any advantage he could re- 



UNION A.ND COICXUNIOH. L68 

6rom you, for you had nothing to bring him; nay, he 
must purchase you, and that with his own blood, before he 

could be united to you. incomparable love; fervent 
desire* ! 

(2.) Another design of the death of Christ was to gain 
our hearts and affections to himself by the arguments of las 

death; this he himself has declared to be the intention of it: 
" I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 
me. This he said, signifying what death he should die." 
John 12 : 32, 33. Christ endured all that you have heard, 
and infinitely more than the tongue or pen of man can ex- 
press ; and all to draw thy soul, and win thy consent to 
come unto him. 

The Lord Jesus, by his sufferings, casts a threefold cord 
over the souls of sinners to draw them to himself. 

The death of Christ obtains complete righteousness fur 
guilty sinners; and if any thing will draw the heart of a 
sinner to Christ, this will. The anxious search and inquiry 
of a convinced sinner is after a perfect righteousness to jus- 
tify him before God. This is wha't the sinner wants ; con- 
science says, Thou hast broken all the laws of God, and art 
therefore condemned : the law sentences thee to hell. Now 
what would a poor sinner give for a release from this sen- 
tence of the law ? 0, ten thousand worlds for a pardon ! 
Why, here it is, saith Christ ; come unto me, and thou shalt 
receive a free, full, and final pardon ; my blood cleanseth 
from all sin, my righteousness answers all the demands of 
the law. I have taken away the handwriting that was 
against thee, and nailed it to my cross. Col. 2 : 14. Come 
unto me, and take up thy cancelled bonds ; come unto me, 
and divine justice shall never fright thy conscience more ; 
nay, thou shalt build thy hope upon it. You read that God 
hath set forth Christ " to be a propitiation through faith in his 
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins 

that are past, through the forbearance of God ; to declare, 1 

7# 



154 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE BOOR. 

say, at this time his righteousness ; that he might be just, 
and the justifier of him which believetli in Jesus." Rom. 
3 : 25, 26. Here you see the justification and pardon of a 
sinner built upon that very attribute which was so dreadful 
to him before. Well then, sinner, is there guilt upon thy 
conscience, and does thy soul shake and quiver to think 
how it shall stand before the just and terrible God in the 
great day ? Hearken to the voice of Christ crucified, who 
calls thee to receive thy discharge ; which if thou refuse, 
the law still stands in its full force against thy soul. This is 
one cord Christ casts from the cross over the souls of guilty 
sinners, to draw them to him. 

The death of Christ procures perfect cleansing from the 
pollution of sin, and washes the souls of sinners from all 
their uncleanness. For, "this is he that came by water and 
blood, even Jesus Christ ; not by water only, but by water 
and blood." 1 John, 5:6. He comes by sanctification, as 
well as by justification. Lord, saith the convinced sinner, 
what an unclean nature, heart, and life have I ? Oh, I am 
nothing but uncleanness,' an abhorrence to God and myself. 
How shall such a heart as mine be cleansed? Come unto 
me, saith Christ ; I came by water as well as blood ; in me 
thou shalt find a fountain for sanctification as well as justifi- 
cation : come unto me, my Spirit shall cleanse thy heart ; he 
shall take away the pollutions of sin, so that it shall be pre- 
sented to God without spot. 

The transcendent love of Christ shines out in its full 
strength upon the soids of sinners from the cross ; and there 
is nothing like love to attract love. When Christ was lifted 
up upon the cross, he gave such a glorious demonstration of 
the strength of his love to sinners, as one would think should 
draw love from the hardest heart that ever lodged in a sin- 
ner's breast. " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but 
that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for 
our sins." 1 John, 4:10. Here is the triumph, the riches 



and glory of divine love; never waa such love manifested in 
the world. These is much ofGod'e teve in temporal j 

dencee, but all is as nothing to this ; fchia is love in ita lnL r h- 
est elevation, its meridian glory ; before it was none like it, 
and after it shall none appeal like it. Thua you see Chris! 
easting forth from the oroea a threefold cord, which 

:. to draw the hearts of sinners to him. 

IV. What a mighty demonstration of the desire of his 

towards us, did our Redeemer give at his ascension 
OSAVBlf As the whole life of Christ upon earth was 
a persuasive argument to draw sinners to him, so his ascen- 
sion to heaven has many mighty attractives for the hearts of 
men. I will only mention two. 

1. The gifts he bestowed on men at his ascension, fen 
this very j>urpose; whereof the Psalmist gives this account : 
"Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity cap- 
tive : thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious 
also, that the Lord God might dwell among them." Psalm 
68: 18. He alludes to the Roman conquerors, who in the 
day of their triumph, scattered their gifts among the people. 
Thus Christ at his ascension shed forth the gifts of the Spirit 
in various kinds, qualifying men for the work of the minis- 
try, to enable them to plead with your souls and carry on 
his suit when he should be in heaven. These gifts were ex- 
traordinary in the first age, as the gifts of tongues and mir- 
acles ; and ordinary, to continue to the end of the world. 
Eph. 4:8, 13. To some he gives depth of learning and 
judgment, to others pathos, a melting influence upon the 
affections ; but all are designed to win your hearts to Christ. 
This shows what care he took, and what provision he made 
for the success of his great design to draw the hearts of sin- 
ners to him. 

2. The ends of his ascension, as they are declared in 
Scripture, plainly show the vehemency of Christ's desire to 
draw souls to him. The declared ends of his ascension were, 



156 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

(1.) To make way for the Spirit's coming to convince, 
convert, and comfort all that come unto him : " Neverthe- 
less I tell you the truth ; it is expedient for you that I go 
away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come 
unto you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And 
when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of 
righteousness, and of judgment." John 16: 7, 8. Without 
the conviction of these things, no man can come to Christ ; 
and no such convictions can be wrought upon the conscience 
of any man, without the Spirit ; and the Spirit could not 
have come to effect these things upon men's hearts, if Christ 
had not ascended : " But this spake he of the Spirit, which 
they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost 
was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. " 
John 7 : 39. Thus Christ provided for carrying on his great 
design upon your hearts when be was entering into his own 
glory : the thoughts of that glory made him not to forget his 
great design upon earth. 

(2 ) Another end of Christ's ascension was, to make in- 
tercession with the Father for every soul that should come 
unto him; that their future sins might make no breach of 
the covenant between God and them : a privilege that 
should draw the hearts of all sinners to him. " My little 
children, these things I write unto you that ye sin not." 
Mark it, the intercession of Christ must encourage no man 
to sin ; that would be a vile abuse of the grace of God. 
But "if any man sin. we have an Advocate with the Fa- 
ther, Jesus Christ the righteous : and he is the propitiation 
for our sins," 1 John, 2:1, 2. That is, if sin surprise and 
deceive a regenerate soul, the bent of whose heart is against 
it, let him not be discouraged ; he has a potent Advocate 
ascended into the heavens, to continue the peace between 
God and that soul. what an encouragement is here 
to gain the consent of a sinner's heart to embrace Jesus 
Christ. 



I ION AND COMMUNION. 
(3.) Another declared end of Christ's ascension was, to 

lead captivity captive, as in the fbrecited place, Psalm 

OS : IS; that is, to lead captive ;md triumph over Satan as 
a conquered enemy, who lead ns captive in the days of OUT 
vanity. He conquered Satan upon the cross, Col. 2 : 15, 
and he triumphed over him at his ;isccn.-ioii; and without 
such a conquest and triumph no soul could come to Christ. 

(1.) In a word, Christ ascended into heaven to prepar i 
mansions of rest and glory for every soul that should em- 
brace him by repentance and faith in this world. " In my 
Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, I 
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John 
14 : 2. As if he had said, It satisfies me not to enjoy my 
glory in heaven alone ; all that come unto me by faith, shal 1 
be with me where I am ; let them know, for their encour- 

ment, that the glory which God hath given me, I have 
given them. John 17 : 22. All these things loudly speak 
the fervent desire of Christ's soul after union and communion 
with sinners ; which was the thing to be demonstrated. 

Having proved the point that Christ is an earnest suitor 
for union and communion with the souls of sinners, we next 
come to show the marvellous grace and condescension 
of Christ that it should be so. And this will appear fwo 
ways, to the astonishment of every considering soul. 

1. Though Christ be thus intent and earnest in his suit 
for your consent, yet he gains nothing by you when yon do 
consent; the gain is to yourselves, and not to him : He "is 
over all, God blessed for ever," Rom. 9 : 5 — above all acces- 
sions from the creature. What does the sun gain by enlight- 
ening and animating the world ? Or wmat does a fountain 
gain when men drink and are refreshed by its waters ? If 
any soul that hears me this day should resolve henceforth to 
break asunder all the ties and engagements between him and 
sin — to subscribe the articles of the gospel — to give away 



158 CHRIST KNOCKING- AI THE DOOR 

himself, soul and body, to Christ — to live henceforth as a 
dedicated servant to the Lord Jesus — this would turn to the 
infinite and everlasting advantage of such a soul ; but Christ 
cannot be profited thereby. 

2. And that which still increases the wonder is, that 
though Christ make no profit by our conversion, yet has he 
impoverished himself to gain such unprofitable creatures as 
%ve are to him. He hath made himself poor to make us 
rich ; so speaks the apostle : " For ye know the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes 
he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." 
2 Cor. 8:9. He expends his riches, but gains no advan- 
tage to himself. His incarnation impoverished his reputa- 
tion. Phil. 2:1. How poor was Christ when he said, " But 
I am a worm, and no man ; a reproach of men, and despised 
of the people." Psalm 22 : 6. How poor in temporal com- 
forts, when he said, " The foxes have holes, and the birds of 
the air have nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to 
lay his head." Matt. 8 : 20. Yea, how poor was he in spirit- 
ual comforts, when that astonishing cry broke from him upon 
the cross, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" 
Matt. 27 : 46. let it astonish us, that Christ should ear- 
nestly desire union with our souls upon terms of such deep 
self-denial to himself. 

3. Though Christ gain nothing by you, and impover- 
ished himself for you, yet he endures many vile repulses, 
delays, and denials of his suit, and yet will not leave you. 
astonishing grace ! One would think that the least delay, 
and much more a refusal of an overture from Christ, upon 
such terms as these, would make his indignation quickly 
rise against such a soul ; and that he would say, Thou hast 
refused my offer, so full of self-denying and condescending 
grace, and never shall another offer be made to so unworthy 
a soul. Yet you see he is contented to wait as well as knock : 
" Behold, I stand at the door and knock." 



UNluN A N D C01CMUH [i 

4. Herein the admirable grace of this heavenly suitor 
appears, that Jesus Christ passes by million* of creatvA 
of more excellent gifts, and never makes them one ofler of 
himself, never turns aside to give one knock at their doer; 
but comes to thee, the vilest of creatures, and will not go 
from thy door without being heard. Knowest thou not, sin- 
ner, that among the unsanctified there are multitudes of men 
and women of more excellent parts, strong memories, and 
solid judgments — yea, of purer conversation, strict morality, 
adorned with excellent social virtues, capable, if called, to 
do him abundantly more service than thou canst ? yet these 
are passed by, and he becomes a suitor to such a poor worth- 
less thing as thou art, yea, and rejoices in his choice. "I 
thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because 
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and 
hast revealed them unto babes." Matt. 11 : 25. Here is 
the triumph of free-grace. 

5. This increases the wonder, that Jesus Christ shoula 
desire and delight to dwell in such an unclean heart as 
thine, which, from the beginning, has been the seat and 
throne of Satan, full of all uncleanness and abominations. 
that Christ should make an overture of love to such a 
polluted soul — that he should choose to erect his throne 
where Satan's seat w r as ! Look into thine own heart, sinner, 
and think what can Christ see there to be desired ? Thou 
knowest thy heart has been a sink of sin, thy conscience like 
a sewer, into which all the filth of thy life has been cast ; 
yet Christ passes by thee, as thou liest hi thy blood and filthi- 
ness, and casts his love upon thee and his desire towards 
thee. Ezek. 16 : 6, 8. All these things make it astonishing 
in our eyes that Jesus Christ, the Lord from heaven, should 
become an earnest suitor for union and communion with the 
souls of sinners. 

Inference 1. If Christ is such an earnest suitor for 
union and communion with the souls of sinners, it follows, 



160 OHIUS'I KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

that sinners can justly charge their damnation upon none 
but themselves. Your blood must be upon your own heads ; 
salvation by Christ is not only freely offered, but you are 
with great importunity persuaded to accept it. Christ offers 
you life, and you choose rather to die than accept it upon his 
terms ; where now can your ruin be charged but upon your 
own wilful obstinacy? "0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thy- 
self." Hosea 13 : 9. Thou art the author of thine own 
ruin ; I would have gathered thy children, said Christ to 
Jerusalem, but thou wouldest not ; your ruin, therefore, lies 
upon yourselves, and upon none besides. Indeed, if the min- 
isters of Christ are negligent in their duty, they may be 
accessories to your destruction ; but that is poor relief to you. 
As for myself, I hope I may, with Paul, take God to record 
this day, that "I am pure from the blood of all men." 
Acts 10 : 26. Now, consider what a dismal aggravation of 
your destruction will this be, that you perished by your owr 
hands : this cuts off all plea and apology. 

2. Hence it also follows, that distressed sinners have 
no reason to question Christ's tcillingness to receive them 
when their hearts are made ivilling to come unto him. 
It w T ould be little less than a blasphemous imputation of 
insincerity to Christ himself, to question his willingness to 
receive broken-hearted sinners, after so many protestations as 
he has made in the gospel, of his earnestness for their salva- 
tion ; that scripture, John 6 : 37, puts it out of doubt : " Him 
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." I know 
guilt breeds many fears and jealousies in the hearts of sin- 
ners ; will Christ ever accept and receive such a one as I ? 
Try him, he has said he will : let him have but the deliberate 
consent of thy heart to his terms, and then, if thou art 
rejected, thou wilt be the first soul that ever met a repulse 
from him. 

3. By Christ's earnest suit for the soids of sinners, you 
may see the inestimable worth of the soul of man. "Were 



I \ i OOH M U n [OH. 161 

not the soul of man of great value, Jesus Chrisl would never 
be so deeply concerned aboul winning and saving it. Bin- 
on of their i will seti 
them for naught; bul knows their true worth, and 

solicitude them is answerable to hia estimation 

of them ; be counts when he . : id a soul, thai 

ted a treasure. Therefore be pleads and v, 
nestly for the Balvation of them. Two things speak the great 

value of .the SOIll of man. 

(l.) That it is now capable <>/' espousals to the Son of 
' ; upon which account it is that Christ so ea i 
its Love, and sues for its consent. This is a dignity beyond 
that ot' all other creatures in heaven ofr in earth; no angel 
in heaven, no other creature but the soul of man on earth, is 
capable of espousals to Christ. It is a dignity above that 
of a C Christ took not on him their nature, and the 

union ui' the divine and human natures is the foundation of 
the union between Christ and his people. Angels are mem- 
bers indeed of Christ's kingdom, and he is to them a head of 
dominion; but the honor was never conferred upon angels 
to be members of his body, flesh and bones, as the saints 
are. Eph. 5 : 30. 

(2.) As the soul is capable of espousals to Christ on earth, 
so it is capable of glory with Christ in heaven throughout 
eternity. "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast 
given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold 
my glory which thou hast given me." John 17 : 24. Tho 
soul of man has a natural capacity of enjoying eternal bless- 
edness which other creatures have not. And this will be 
the aggravation of hell-torments, that men capable of the 
highest happiness should, as it were, recehe that capacity 
in vain ; but that which constitutes an actual right to the 
everlasting enjoyment of Christ in glory, is the soul's espou- 
sals to him here by his grace. Upon these two account > it is 
that Christ puts such a price upon them, courts then lo\ 



162 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE BOOR. 

affectionately, laments their loss so pathetically, and encour- 
ages his ministers to all diligence in persuading and wooing 
them for him with such abundant rewards. Dan. 12 : 3. 
Know then your own worth and dignity ; neither pawn nor 
sell so precious a thing as thy soul for any thing Satan can 
set before thee by way of exchange for it. ''What shall a 
man give in exchange for his soul !" Mark 8 : 37. 

4. Is Christ such an earnest suitor for union with sin- 
ners ? then certainly, they are the enemies of Christ and 
the souls of men, who any way endeavor to hinder or break 
off the %mio7i between Christ and them. 

Some there are who labor to create jealousies and preju- 
dices in the souls of men against Christ and his ways — men 
that bring up an evil report of Christ and religion, as that 
which will expose them to all the miseries of the world. 
Instigated by Satan, they whisper into the soul's ear, w T hom 
Christ is wooing for himself, that the severity of religion will 
certainly extinguish all their joys and pleasures ; they shall 
never laugh more, never be merry any more ; besides, it will 
expose all their comforts upon earth to hazard, their estates 
and lives must fall a prey to their enemies, and this suffering 
is the estate with which Christ will endow them if they con- 
sent to his terms. And that this is no groundless jealousy 
of their own, but that Christ himself has openly declared as 
much : " He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not 
worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than 
me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, 
and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." Matt. 10 : 37, 
38. This is what they must expect as the fruit of their con- 
sent to Christ's proposals. But 0, what will these men have 
to answer, and how will they stand before Christ another day, 
who are such professed enemies to his cross, and set them- 
selves so directly in opposition to the great designs of Christ ! 
Is it not enough that you will not enter yourselves, but you 
will hinder them that would ? Matt. 23:13. Thus ungodly 



UNION AND CuMM. UNION. 

parents discourage their children, and on< re another. 

But, to help souls under this discouragement, I will 

only this one caution with them, thai such seeming friends 

are real enemies, their words are poison to your souls. Satan 
has employed them to do his work, and hired their tongues tor 
his service. But if the serious care of salvation, and fervent 

love of Christ be in thy heart, thou wilt resolve, as Jerome 
did, "If my lather and my mother should hang about my 
neck with tears and entreaties to keep me from Christ, I 
would fling off my father and my mother, to go to Christ." 

To this head also belong all those scandals and offences 
which loose and careless professors cast in the way to discour- 
age others from coming unto Christ : "Woe unto the world 
because of offences." Matt. 18:7. Woe to the world, this will 
be their ruin ; for by this means such prejudices will be begot- 
ten in their souls against Christ and religion, as they will 
never be able to free themselves from. "Whoso shall offend 
one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for 
him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that 
he were drowned hi the depth of the sea." Matt. 18 : 6. 
Christians, look carefully to your conversation ; for besides 
the evil effects of sin upon yourselves, you see the mischiev- 
ous effects of it upon others. And thus we may understand 
those words, " I charge you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not 
up nor awake my love till he please." Sol. Song 2:7. Roes 
and hinds are timid creatures, the least noise will startle 
and fright them away : such are those who are coming to 
Christ ; young beginners in the ways of religion, how small 
a matter may discourage them. friend, you have sins 
enough of your own ; bring not the sin and ruin of other 
men upon you also. 

5. How great is the blindness and ignorance of sin- 
ners, icho need so much entreaty and importunity to be 
made happy! It is your ignorance, sinners, that makes all 



1G4 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

the gospel importunity necessary ; did you know your own 
misery, and see Christ as to his necessity, suitableness, and 
excellency, all these persuasions might be spared ; nay, you 
yourselves would become importunate suitors for Christ. 
He would not need to be twice offered : there is a conscience 
in every man, set there on purpose by the Lord to give each 
an alarm ; but the alarm is not heard for want of the know- 
ledge of your sin and misery. Ah, soul, didst thou but know 
who it is that sues for thy love, and what the benefits of union 
with Christ are, thou wouldst answer his first call in such 
language as this : Lord Jesus, write down thine own terms ; 
be they what they will, I am ready to subscribe them with 
the full consent of my heart and will. And then, how soon 
would the union be made between Christ and you. Yea, 
you would watch for and hang on half a word of encour- 
agement from Christ's mouth, as Benhadad's servant did 
on that word of Ahab, "my brother" Benhadad. 1 Kings, 
20 : 32, 33. There is no need of rhetoric to persuade a con- 
demned malefactor to accept his pardon, or a hungry man 
to sit down at a full table ; but, alas, sin is not felt, Christ 
is not known ; and therefore the one is not bewailed, nor the 
other desired. 

This doctrine also naturally leads us to persuade sinners 
to embrace Christ's offer, subscribe to his terms, and debate 
no more with him, but end the treaty in a cordial present 
consent ; and so close the union between him and their souls. 
How long, sinner, wilt thou halt, and thy will hang unde- 
termined between Christ and sin, and unresolved in so 
great and deep a concern? that Christ's overture mxy 
bring the matter to an issue. Why will you trifle and dally 
with him at this rate ? There is, indeed, a treaty on foot 
between Christ and you ; but you may perish for all that ; 
there is no conclusion or agreement made ; Christ and you 
may yet part. The Lord help you, therefore, to consider 



seriousness the tei n anded b) < Ihrisl in the 

gospel; to ootmt the oofil oof to be always deliberating 
to bring matters to an issue, and thai with all oonvenient 
ipeed : in order whereunto 1 will lay two things before you. 
Ponder well what arc the advantages \<>u will gain bj 
Christ, and what is the most you can Lose by your consent 
to his terms ; and then bring your thoughts to an issue. 
6. / well the advantages you will gain bj Christ : 

sre bo great and manifold, that it is impossible for me 
omerate or estimate them. It shall suffice in this 
place to show you one of those bunches of the grap 

I, that by it you may estimate the riches and fertility 
of the good laud settled upon you by Christ as a dowry; 
and these are lour. 

(1.) The same day and hour you giveyour cordial consent 
to take Christ, upon gospel-terms, that is to say, Christ with 

ke of obedience, and Christ with his cross of Bufferings, 
tut debts to the law are discharged and paid. What 
have you been doing ever since you came into the world, 
but running into debt to God, deeper and deeper every day ? 
What a vast sum owest thou to his justice ! and thou art not 
able to pay one farthing. If thou consent not to Christ's 

the bailifTand executioner, death and Satan, will shortly 
be upon thee, and hurry thee away to that prison from 
whence thou shalt not come until thou hast paid the last 
farthing. Matt. 5 : 2-j. 26. If thou consent to Christ's terms, 
thy debts are paid upon thy marriage-day, thy bonds are 
slled, and thy discharge in heaven is sealed : " There is 
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ,'' 
Rom. 6:1; and the reason is given, The righteousness ot 
the law is fulfilled in us that believe. Ver. 4. But how in 
ii- .' Certainl) the meaning is not that the act of faith doth, 

work of ours, satisfy the demands of the law and fill- 
- : but it apprehends the righteousr 
Christ. cij>}ili»-s it and makes it ours, and so "the right 



166 CHRIST KNOCKING^ AT THE DOOR. 

ness of the la w is fulfilled in us that believe." Is it an ease 
and a comfort to be out of debt ? Then embrace the offer of 
Christ ; for after thy espousals to him, the law cannot touch 
thee by an act of condemnation : it goes to the husband, 
Christ ; thou art discharged. Then resolve what to do : 
shall the debt run on and increase till justice come to exact 
it upon you in hell-torments ? Or will you accept of Christ 
and the riches of righteousness in him, and so be fully and 
finally acquitted from all your debts at once, and able to 
lie down in peace and enjoy your life without fear ? 

(2.) Your consent to Christ's terms, icill advance you to 
an honor above and beijond that of angels. It is said that 
the children of the resurrection shall be equal to angels. 
Matt. 22 : 30. And it is most sure, that in some respects 
their union with Christ advances them far above angels ; for 
the apostle tells us, they are ministering spirits, sent forth to 
minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation, Heb. 1:14; 
as the nobles in a kingdom count it no dishonor to perform 
their service to the heir apparent. The ministry of angels 
is a mystery which we little understand ; but by it we receive 
great and manifold advantages, and it certainly puts great 
honor on all the members of Christ. 

(3.) Christ will not only pay all your debts and exalt 
you to a dignity above angels, but in the day wherein you 
cordially consent to his terms, he ivill entitle you to the most 
glorious inheritance 'purchased by his blood. You shall be 
"heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Rom. 8 : 17. 
what an inducement is here to close the union between 
Christ and our souls. If I consent to take Christ upon 
gospel-terms, I shall be entitled to all the glory in heaven ; 
it shall be mine as truly as it is Christ's. It is true the 
glory of Christ will far surpass the glory of the saints ; he 
will shine among them as the sun compared with the stars; 
but the glory which God gave him, that is, the communi- 
cable glory, shall be as truly theirs, as it is his. " The glory 



which thou gavesl me I hare given them." John 1/ 
TV11 my brethren, Baith he, John 20 : L7,"l ascend unto my 
Father and your Father, and i<> my God and your God." 
This you ghallgain by closing this treaty with a hearty con- 
sont to Christ's terms and proposals. 

(I.) It' you will consider and consent, you shall be p e* 
tented by Christ to the Father and spotless^ wilh 

exceeding joy and gladness in the unci day. This will be 
a presentation of your persons to God that should make your 
hearts leap for joy as you road what the Scriptures Bpeah 
about it. This, methinks, should induce every soul without 
further delay to present himself, soul and body, willingly 
and cheerfully to Jesus Christ. For, first, Christ will bring 
you in the great day to his Father, in the beauty of perfect 
holiness, not a spot or wrinkle upon your souls. Eph. 5 : 27. 
The blood of Christ perfectly washes away every spot of 
guilt. Then the Spirit of Christ shall have perfectly cleans- 
ed the soul from all the defilement of sin ; so that it shall 
come to God pure and beautiful out of Christ's hand. Second, 
This presentation will be made with the greatest honor and 
solemnity. We little think in what triumph Christ intends 
to bring the poorest believer to his Father. " With gladness 
and rejoicing shall they be brought : they shall enter into 
the king's palace." Psalm 45 : 15. They shall be presented 
"faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding 
joy." Jude 24. Joy running over joy, upon all hands : 
God himself will rejoice that he created a soul that has sin- 
cerely bestowed itself upon Christ; Jesus Christ will rejoice 
that he shed his blood for the soul that places his sole right- 
eousness therein ; the Holy Spirit will rejoice that ilj came 
with a commission from the Father and the Son to draw 
such a soul to Christ, who has obeyed his voice. The angels 
will rejoice with joy unspeakable. "There is joy in the 
presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repent- 
eth." Luke 15 : 10. If the consent of any of your BOttls 



108 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR 

shall be this day gained to Christ — if the word you have 
heard shall send any poor soul hence to his closet there to 
make his covenant with Christ, for that is the way of making 
the union with Christ — in that hour the news of it will he in 
heaven and excite joy among the angels of Grod. Lay these 
and many other privileges together, which the Scriptures 
will abundantly furnish you, and then consider what a rich 
bargain Jesus Christ confers on your souls. 

7. Again, on the other hand, consider ivhat you may 
lose by your consent to be Christ's, and whether these 
losses are sufficient to balance the gain of such a consent, 
that so your choice of Christ may be deliberate and full, and 
you may never repent of the choice you have made. It is a 
rule in the civil law, Non consentit qui non sentit — he 
cannot consent that does not think, understand, and delib- 
erate; and this is the reason of so much flinching from 
Christ and shameful apostasy in times of persecution : men 
did not think of such sufferings and losses, they are matters 
of surprise to them. To prevent all such occasions of offence, 
our Lord deals candidly and openly with us, and tells us 
beforehand what are the worst things that may befall us for 
his sake. " These things have I spoken unto you, that you 
should not be offended. They shall put you out of the syn- 
agogues ; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you 
will think he doeth God service." John 16 : 1, 2. But he 
adds, " These things have I told you that, when the time 
shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them." 
Yer. 4. Remember, in times of persecution, that all these 
things were propounded and consented to ; they were the 
very terms you subscribed to me ; had you not liked them, you 
might, at the everlasting ruin of your immortal souls, have 
refused and rejected them. The things you are to balance 
with the gain of Christ may be divided into two classes. 

(1.) The things that you must part with, namely, your 
lusts and all the vicious pleasures you have had in them. 



much pn re they 

they mu 
and in i can ha> e no intere I in Clu is! ; 

1 1] your sinful 
1 1 
;> : 1 6, 1' - : i iit and profitabli 

or hand, they must be plucked out and <*u i off Matt. 

; harsh and unpleasanl to your 
i to demur ! o c what 

i pari with sin ; it is but to part with the 

BOttls, and the insl nuuents of your ruin. 

Which of you would not be glad to part with a fever, the 
What is passion, bu1 the i f the 

Whal is a hard heart, but a stone? Wha1 is c 

; lie drop 

if men would be glad to Lc rid of such 
ir bodies, and to be restored to sound- 
It h ; bow much more should you be glad 
rid of your corruptions, and have the rectitude, ease, 
and pleasure of your souls restored again ? yea, instead of 
the impure, vicious pleasures you have taken in sin, you shall 
enjoy the pure, suitable, and everlasting pleasures of holi 
Consider now, and accordingly make your choice, whether 
y t .u will ta oi' sin, which are but for a sea- 

son, in ex< i lasting joys which are at God's 

t hand for ev< 

(2.) There are other things which you may be called to 

part with, and give up for Christ. It is uncertain whether 

f call you to par? with yaw liberty^ estate, rtla- 

Christ. Many are never actually called 

forth to such sufferings ; but because many are, and e 

one of you may be so called, you must realize them, ponder 

. and subscribe to those very terms, making full account 

of these things as if they were now before you, for so ( 

hath propounded them. Luke 9:23. But then weigh 

Chriit Krv wl 



170 CHUISI KNOCKING AT THE I>00£. 

these troubles with the advantages you shall have by them, 
and not alone by themselves ; for so Christ has presented 
them to you. " And every one that hath forsaken houses, 
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or chil- 
dren, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred 
fjld, and shall inherit everlasting life." Matt. 19 : 29. 

Now, if you think such gainful troubles, such soul-enrich- 
ing losses are worth accepting for Christ's sake, then close 
the union with Christ and bring the matter to a conclu 
sion. Do not befool yourselves by a fond and groundless pre- 
sumption that these things will never befall you. I fear many 
natter themselves with such vain hopes ; the Lord knows 
how soon these suppositions at a distance may be turned 
into realities before your eyes. You have much reason to 
expect them, and much more to embrace them, whenever 
Christ shall call you to them. This is the great work you 
have now to do, and you cannot safely demur any longer ; 
this matter must come to a conclusion, and the sooner the 
better. For, 

You know that your lives are uncertain, and it is mad- 
ness to let the great concerns of your salvation lie one day at 
hazard ; your breath is continually coming and going, and 
must at last be gone. James 4:14. Your souls hang over 
everlasting dangers by that feeble breath which plays in 
your nostrils, and every disease is like the flame of a candle 
held under that thread ; and can it either be safe or com- 
fortable to delay so great a work as this, upon which all 
your expectations of eternal blessedness depend ? 

Not only your lives are uncertain, but the enjoyment oj 
the gospel, and all the opportunities and means of your con- 
version, are as uncertain as they. It is true, and to the glory 
of God be it acknowledged, we now enjoy the freedom and 
fulness of gospel-mercies ; but where has G od made any such 
settlement of these blessings upon you, as puts the enjoyment 
cf them out of hazard ? The rain is over, but the clouds 






1 . 1 

may return after I be rain, [fy< ur prh ileg 

fruit in your conversion, well ; if Dot, tin' axe lietfa at the 

root of i'i Matt. 3 : i () . A ad if I iod remoi 

gOSpel from us, as our delays and triflings 018 j 

to do, then the treaty is ended, and there ia little probability 
that any thing further will be done between Ohrisl an< 
Luke 13 : 25. 

Bring this matter to an LSSUe with all due speed, bee 

you arc not able to giv( n for a moment's 

delay of so great and weighty a concern. Can you b 

ion ! Can you be happy too soon? Certain I;, 

cannot be out of the danger of hell too soon ; and then 
why should not your closing with Christ upon his own terms 
be your very next work? If the main work and business of 
every man's life be to flee from the wrath to come, as, indeed 
it is, Matt. 3 : 7, and to flee for refuge to Jesus Chri 
indeed it is, lleb. 6:18, then all delays are highly dangerous. 
The man-slayer, when fleeing to the city of refuge before the 
avenger of blood, when his heart was hot within him, did 
not think he could reach the city too soon. Set your reason 
to work upon this matter ; put the case as really it is : I am 
fleeing from wrath to come ; the justice of God and the curses 
of the law are closely pursuing me ; is it reasonable that I 
should sit down in the way to gather flowers, or play with 
trifles ? for such are all other concerns in this world, com- 
pared with our salvation. 

Bring this treaty to an issue with all due speed, because 
most souls that perish, perish by delays; men think they 
have time enough before them and that to-morrow will be as 
to-day, and so Satan gets, part by part, what he had not confi- 
dence to demand in the whole lump. Most that perish under 
the gospel had convictions upon their consciences, and vain 
purposes in their hearts ; but not bringing them to a speedy 
execution, that was their undoing. " He beholdeth himself) 
and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner 



172 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

of man he was." James 1 : 24. It is an allusion to a man 
that looks in the morning into a glass, where he discerns a 
spot upon his face, and resolves with himself soon to wash it 
off; but some diversion or other falls in, other matters take 
up his thoughts, and so the spot remains all day and he 
carries it to bed at night. these delays in closing with 
Christ are the undoing of millions. 

Delay not to close this treaty with Christ, because all 
delay i?icreases the difficulty ; and the longer you neglect, 
the more will your hearts "be hardened by the deceitfulness 
of sin." Heb. 3 : 13. Continuance in sin and quenching 
convictions insensibly harden the heart and make the will 
stubborn. Under the first convictions the heart is tender, 
the affections flowing ; if this advantage were apprehended 
and pursued, how soon might the work come to a comfort- 
able conclusion ; but after a while, those soul- affecting words, 
sm, Christ, heaven, hell, death, and eternity, will become 
words of a common sound. 

And lastly, beware of delays in this matter, because you 
can never expect a fairer opportunity for the dispatch of 
this great concern than, by the special indulgence of Heaven, 
you enjoy this day. " ]N~ow is the accepted time ; behold, 
now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6 : 2. You have the 
wind and tide with you ; if you will not weigh anchor now, 
you may lie wind-bound to your dying day. What advan- 
tage can you reasonably expect, which God has not fur- 
nished you with at this day ? You have the means of grace 
among you, and you have freedom to attend on those means 
without fear. Say not, I have such or such troubles and 
encumbrances in the world ; for you must never expect to 
be without them, except you shall find the world another 
thing than all others find it. Have you health ? what 
a precious season and advantage is that. Art thou sick ? 
what a spur is that. What is to be done must be done 
quickly. 



"But it i .1 plead ignorance, thai they 

know not bow to I 

and theret it : and it is lik< may 

be truth in that plea. For the help of such souls, I will 

ix ii]) the lumofwhat has been spoken about this ma1 
i the followinj liinL r but your 

unwillingness shall remain to hinder i 

rex you bring the 
Christ and youx souls to a happy conclusion, you mn 

I luke 11 : 28, else it will be 
to engage yourselves in the profe religion. Ii 

Ohrisl i to draw you under a rash, derate 

rement, and so to reap more dishonor by your 
than ever he shall have glory by your profession. He would 
have you I id Beriously bethink yi of all the 

troubles and inconveniences you may afterwards i 
for his sake. You are to embark yourselves with Christ, 
and abide with him in storms as well as in Bunshine 
must " follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." Rev. 
11:1. There is no retreating after engagement to Christ . 
" If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pi 
in him." Heb. 10 : 3S. It is eternal death by the law 
of heaven, to desert Christ's colors in the day of battle. 
Well, then, retire into the innermost closet of thy soul; sit 
quiet and patiently there, till thou hast debated this mat- 
ter fully with thy own thoughts, and hast balanced the 
good and the evil, the profits and losses of religion. For 
want of this the church is filled with hypocrites, and hell 
with inconsiderate and rash professors : the more w r e delib- 
erate, the better we shall conclude. 

Direction 2. Having debated the matter over and over 
in thy most serious thoughts, let not Safa?i discourage thee 
from casting thy soul at Christ's feet, with a hearty o 
to all Jus term&i for want of such qualifications as thou canst 
not find in thy own soul. It is usual for Satan to 



174 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

at such a time, the want of greater sorrow and humiliation 
for sin — that the soul has not lain long enough under the 
humbling work of the law — that the aggravations of sin 
have been such that there is no hope of acceptance. Free 
thy soul from these snares of Satan by the consideration of 
the truth, that Christ expects from thee no more humilia- 
tion than what produces such a hearty, deliberate consent as 
thy will is now to give ; and such a consent once gained, 
no aggravation of sin can be pleaded against the duty of 
believing. 

Direction 3. Distrust not the sincerity of Christ in the 
gracious offers he makes to coming souls. Be sure that 
he speaks his very heart in them to thee ; the devil labors 
to sow jealousy and suspicions in the hearts of convinced 
sinners, that they will not find such a welcome with Christ 
as he seems to promise them in those encouraging scriptures, 
Matt. 11 : 28, 29 ; John 6 : 37 ; but that something else lies 
hid in such scriptures, as a mystery which they understand 
not, and so labors to hinder the accepting act of faith. This 
is a case as common as it is sad. The Lord help you to 
avoid this snare, lest instead of honoring Christ by resolved 
adherence to him, you make him a bar, and impute insin- 
cerity to the God of truth : " He that believeth not God 
hath made him a liar." 1 John, 5 : 10. 

Direction 4. Look itp to God to enable you to come U 
Christ in this difficult ivork of faith. Do not think faith 
is of the growth of thine own heart : " Wo man can come tc 
me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." 
John 6 : 44. There is a legal spirit working under evangel- 
ical pretences in many souls ; teaching them to look within 
themselves to find that which is quite above them. The 
apostle points you to the fountain of faith, in Eph. 2:8: 
it is " not of yourselves ; it is the gift of G od." If the powei 
of God must be owned as the cause of every new degree oi 
(aith in the greatest believers, as is plain from Luke 17:5, 



" T I 

much more ii the produ< elf, and t 

.1 act tl d to the almighty p 

Direction 5. i 
thai the Lord i t tto 

give no, over thy suit 
till thou feel thai power u] The I relieving 

j pleading thine own danger and nee 

; and the Spirit of the Lord will abundantly furnish 
thee with pleas and arguments to enforce this suit. Such 
^se : 

(1.) Lord, I have thy call and invitation, yea, I have 
thy command to encourage me to believe ; it is no presump- 
tion therefore, in thy poor creature, to come after thou hast 
invited and commanded me : hadst thou not encouraged me, 
I dared not have moved towards thee. Lord, whose word is 
it, u that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus 
Christ ?" 1 John, 3 : 23. Is it not thine own ? This makes 
my faith an act of obedience. 

(2.) Yea, Lord. I have thy promise, as well as thy com- 
mand, made upon no other condition but my coming to thee. 
Blessed Jesus, hast thou not said, " Him that cometh unto 
me I will in no wise cast out ?" John 6 : 37. An invitation 
is much, but thy promise is more. 

(3.) my God, I have not only thy command, making 
it my duty to believe, and thy promise to encourage me to 
that duty, but I have the examples of other sinners who 
came unto thee long ago, and thou didst not reject them : 
nor do I abuse these examples in drawing encouragement 
from them ; for it was thy very design, in recording them, 
that they might be so many patterns to all that should he 
after believe on thee. 1 Tim. 1:16. 

(1.) my God, I am shut up under a plain necessity ; I 
have no other way to take; I am beaten off from all other 



176 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

refuges ; there is no help for me in angels or in men, in duties 
or self-righteousness ; in thee only my soul can find rest. I 
am shut up to thee as to the only door of hope, Gal. 3 : 23 , 
here I must succeed or perish : my soul is burdened and 
wearied; I know not how to dispose of it, but into thy 
hands ; nor where to lay the burden of r ly guilt, but upon 
thee. If I fail here, I am lost for ever. 

(5.) Lord, I am willing to renounce all other hopes, 
refuges, and righteousness, and to rely upon thee only. 
Duties car .lot justify me, tears cannot wash me, reformation 
cannot ? dve me ; nothing but thy righteousness can answer 
for mr. I come to thee a poor naked creature, saying as 
thev of old, " Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride 
upon horses : neither will we say any more to the work of 
our hands, Ye are our gods ; for in thee the fatherless find- 
eth mercy." Hos. 14 : 3. Thus plead with God, and still 
remember you are pleading for life, yea, for your eternal life. 

Direction 6. Labor to ?nake a resolved adventure upon 
Christ, amidst all these encouragements, let the issue be 
tvhat it will; resolve to yenture, though you have not the 
least degree of assurance that you shall be accepted and par- 
doned. This is that brave and noble act of faith which 
carries the soul to Christ: much as Esther came to the king, 
' So will I go in unto the king; and if I perish, I perish." 
Esther 4:16. It grieves me to think how some imagine 
that the fervent love of Christ will save and justify them, 
without any act of belief on their part; but you see that 
scriptural faith is very different from all this. there are 
great difficulties and mighty wrestlings in the work of 
believing : it is a great matter for a convinced sinner, in the 
face of so much guilt and vileness and amidst such mani- 
fold discouragements from Satan, to cast and adventure 
himself upon Christ, and that upon such self-denying terms ; 
but the pinch of necessity will bring the soul to this, for now 
it reasons with itself as the lepers did, If we go to the camp 



U N i 

of the Syrian- bul die; and it' we abide hen 

must certainly die. ; 1. So here, if 1 nl still in 

and oontinue I rucl ion is 

unavoidable — to hell I must go : and if 1 casl myself upon 
Christ, I can bu1 be L Bui he has said, Be will not 

that conic unto him : in this way of faith 
there is a possibility, yea, assuranoe of salvation ; this there- 
fine is my only way; to him I will go, and it' I perish, [ 

perish. 

Direction 7. Never measure the grace of God. 
i of Christ, by your own narrow apprehension 

liiiu ; but believe them to be far greater than your con- 
tracted understanding represents them to you. Our idea of 
the pardoning power and mercy of God, cast in the mould of 
our own thoughts, disfigures and alters them, so that they 
look not like themselves, but with a very discouraging at 
upon our souls. By this, Satan keeps off many souls from 
coming to Christ. The Lord knows how to forgive I 
though thou scarcely knowest how to forgive thyself, for the 
•injuries thou hast done against him. That is a striking 
scripture to this purpose, in Isa. 55 : 7-9 : "Let the wicked 
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; 
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy 
upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your 
ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are 
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your 
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Man lies 
under a double misery, one by reason of affliction, another 
by reason of transgression ; concerning both these, God's 
thoughts are not as ours, but far above what we can think. 
We cannot think such thoughts in respect to others, under 
misery in themselves or under transgression against us, as God 
does towards us ; nor can we conceive what those thoughts 
of God are towards us, when we are under misery or sin, as 

8* 



178 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

he thinks them. His thoughts will still he above ours, as 
the heavens are above the earth. So high is heaven that 
the vast body of the whole earth is but a small, inconsider- 
able point to it ; the highest cedars, mountains, clouds can- 
not reach it. God's thoughts are infinite, ours finite ; his 
thoughts are continued, ours interrupted and at a stand ; his 
are immutable, ours changeable ; his are intuitive, ours dis- 
cursive : therefore never measure his by your own. The 
thoughts of pardoning grace in him. are rich, plenteous, and 
g n orious ; but when our unbelieving hearts practise upon 
them, they seem quite another thing. Thou sayest, How 
can such a wretch as I obtain mercy ? Thou knowest not, 
but the Lord knoweth. if you could take in such a proper 
idea and apprehension of the mercy and goodness of God, 
as he has given of them himself, when he passed by Moses 
and proclaimed himself, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful 
and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and 
truth ; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and 
transgression and sin," Exod. 34 : 6, 7, this would bring 
you to Christ with much encouragement. 

Direction 8. Be not discouraged in the icork of faith, 
though no comfort should come in by the first act of it ; nay, 
though there should be an increase of trouble for the pres- 
ent. The first saving act of faith certainly puts you into 
a state of peace, but it may not presently produce the sense 
of peace ; after you have believed and really closed with 
Christ, you may meet with some discouragements which 
omay make you question whether Christ has received you or 
no — whether he has any love for your souls or no ? Yet per- 
severe, whether comfort come or not ; though Christ and 
safety are inseparable, yet Christ and the sense of comfort are 
not so : think not that all your troubles shall be over as soon 
as you believe, because it is said, " "We which have believed 
do enter into rest." Heb. 4 : 3. That scripture speaks of a 
state of rest, and not of a present or continued sense of rest 



The woman illj believe In 

with soretrialfl under I •• first ac1 of her faith; jei this took 

her ■ om the \ faith, but ratheT qti h >r 

»rd from Christ, and 
expected deeds. Th : 'It is not 

meet to take the child c 

ta not oil' her faith : t! i im- 

i 1 y, and crumbs to the dog. "0 woman," saith Chri 

y faith." Matt. : 7. If you resolve for 

Christ, you most not be d fed; a resolute faith over- 

comes all difficulties. You pray, you believe, and yet have 
no comfort ; well, the vision of peace is for an appointed 
time ; at the end it will speak, and not lie. 

Direction 9. In your treating with Christ, beware of 
all > ill spoil the treaty between Chr 

I yon. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will 
not hear me." Psa. GG : IS. If there be but a reserve of 
one lust, that reserve will break off the treaty : be honest 
with Christ, and say not of any sin, " the Lord be merciful 
to me in this ;" and be sure there is no secret purpose or 
reserve in thy heart for a retreat in time of danger ; but 
embark thyself with Christ for storms and tempests, troubles 
and afflictions, as well as peace and prosperity. Christ 
bestows himself wholly upon you, and he expects the same 
from you : give up all, or you will receive nothing from him. 

Direction 10. Close up your treaty ivith Christ by a 
solemn covenant icitli him; engage yourselves to be the 
Lord's. " One shall say, I am the Lord's ; and anothe? 
shall call himself by the name of Jacob ; and another shall 
subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname him- 
self by the name of Israel." Isa. 44 : 5. Here you have 
two things to do : 1. To give yourselves up to Chr 
according to that expression, they " first gave their own 
selves to the Lord.'' 2 Cor. 8:5. Make your soul and 
body, time and talents, henceforth, dedicated things to his 



180 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

service. 2. Take Christ in both his natures and in all his 
offices to he yours ; and to this covenant you are to stand 
to the last breath, whatever times or troubles shall come. 
This consent of thy heart to be Christ's, this choice of thy 
will in taking him for thine, is but the echo of Christ's 
choice of thee ; and I would rather have such an evidence 
of my interest in him, than a voice from heaven to assure 
me that Christ is mine. 



NONE REJECTED. |81 

CHAPTER VII. 
CHRIST REJECTS NONE WHO OPEN TO HIM. 

U IFANY MAX SEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR I WILL 
OOMB IN TO HIM." Kkv 

This expression, " If any man," extends the gracious offer 
of Christ, and brings in hope to every hearer. It is a gen- 
eral proclamation : " If any man ;" as if Christ should say, 
1 will have this oiler of my grace go round to every partic- 
ular person ; if thou, or thou, or thou, the greatest, the vilest 
of sinners, of what quality or condition soever, old or young, 
profane or hypocritical, wilt hear my voice, and open to me, 
I will come in to your soul. And hereby all objections are 
obviated : as for example, I am the greatest of sinners, 
says one ; I have been a self-deceiving hypocrite, says 
another ; I have resisted grace too long, and fear the time 
of mercy is past, says a third. The ground of all these, and 
a thousand more objections, is taken away by the gracious 
extent of Christ's offer in the text ; for who is he that can 
limit where Christ does not ? This gives us a seventh prof- 
itable and comfortable doctrine : • 

Jesus Christ will not refuse to come in to the soul of 
the vilest sinner, ivhen once it is made willing to open 
to him. 

" If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will 
come in to him." It is not unworthiness, but unwillingness, 
that bars any man from Christ: thousands have missed of 
Christ by their unwillingness, but Christ never put off one 
soul on account of its unworthiness; Christ is not the sale 
but the gift of God ; you come not to make a bargain, but to 
receive a free gift : faith is marriage with Christ, wherein 
nothing but our hearty consent is expected ; so runs the 
strain of the whole Scriptures. " Ho, every one that 
thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no 



i82 UH&IST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOit. 

money," that is, no merit, no worthiness of his own, " come 
ye." Isa. 55:1. Behold the free-grace of Christ to the 
vilest and most unworthy of sinners. So Rev. 22 : 17, 
" Let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever will, let him 
take the water of life freely." And in the very phrase of 
my text he speaks again. And yet again, in John 7 : 37, 
" If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. 5 ' It is 
very observable throughout the whole gospel, that Christ 
never made any objection against any soul that came to 
him, on account of its sinfulness and unworthiness ;• but all 
the complaints of Christ are on account of men's unwilling- 
ness. So in his complaint over Jerusalem, Luke 13 : 34, 
" I would, but you would not ;" so again, John 5 : 40, 
"Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." The 
complaint is still upon their unwillingness. In stating this 
point, I shall show what it is to be truly willing to receive 
Jesus Christ ; and how it appears that they who are so, shall 
certainly be received and graciously accepted of him. 

I. "What it is to be truly willing to receive Jesus 
Christ ; for this is meant by opening the heart to him. 
Now this implies rnjmy great and weighty things. 

1. It implies and necessarily includes the right under- 
standing of gospel terms. These must be known, pondered, 
and duly considered, before the will can savingly open, in 
an act of consent, to Christ's ofTer. I desire this may be 
especially observed, because multitudes are mistaken about 
this thing : he that does not consider, does not consent ; you 
must exercise your understandings upon the terms and 
articles of Christianity, or else your consent is rash, blind- 
fold, and unstable. This, in Luke 14 : 31, is called consulting ; 
the consent of faith is the result of previous consultations 
and debates in the mind : the soul that comes to Christ must 
take up religion in his most sedate and serious thoughts; 
turn both sides of it, the dark as well as the bright side of 
religion, to the eye of his mind ; balance all the conven- 



:83 

knees and inconveniences, losses as well as gains, [f [ 
open to Christ, this 1 shall gain, bat that I must 1" 
cannot separate Ohrisl from sufferings: Christ will separate 
me from my sins; if I seek him, I must let them L r <>: if 1 
profess Christ, Providence will one time or other bring me to 
this dilemma, either Christ or earthly comforts must go, It 
is necessary, therefore, that 1 now- propound to myself what 
Providence may, onetime or other, propound tome. He hath 
Set down his terms: {i [f any man will come alter me, let 
him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." 
Matt. 16 : 24. This sell-denial deserves serious considera- 
tion ; tor Christ requires that I give up my life, my liberty, 
my estate, my relations, and also my own righteou- 
which is as hard to be parted with as any of the former. 
I must take up my cross, that is, the sufferings and troubles 
which God shall appoint for me, and which I cannot avoid 
without sin ; and I must follow Christ whithersoever he 
I know not what religion may cost me before I die ; 
all this it has cost others ; and there is no bringing down 
Christ's terms lower than he has laid them. I must come 
up to them, they will not come down to me : if I like them 
not as Christ has left them, the treaty between him and me 
is ended. " He that loveth father or mother more than me, 
is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter 
more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh 
not his cross and folio weth after me, is not worthy of me.'' 
Matt. 10 : 37, 38. Where, by worthiness, we are not to 
understand the meritoriousness of these acts, but the neces- 
sary qualification of the will, and the due preparation of one 
coming to Christ ; these previous consultations and debates 
in the mind prepare the will to make a serious and well- 
advised choice of Christ : and for want of this, there are 
such swarms of hypocrites and apostates in the world. 

2. It implies such a sense of misery in us, and of the 
necessity and excellency of Christ, as determines the will to 



184 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

the choice of him, notwithstanding all the difficulties which 
have fallen or can fall under consideration in the mind. 
When the soul sees that in Christ which preponderates over 
all sufferings, all losses, and all reproaches, and then deter- 
mines, I will have Christ though I sacrifice all that is dear 
to me in the world for him, this is to be truly willing to open 
to Christ. It is true, the enjoyments of this world are un- 
derstood by Christians as much as other men ; they have a 
feeling sense of the sweetness of earthly enjoyments ; their 
souls have as much affection to the body as other men ; they 
understand the charming language of the world and their 
dear relations in it, as well as others ; only they see a greater 
necessity of Christ, and a greater worth in Christ, than they 
do in these things. You read that in the famine of Jerusa- 
lem they gave their pleasant things for meat to relieve their 
soul — jewels, bracelets, gold, silver, any thing for bread, 
Lam. 1:11; they understood the worth of these things, 
knew the cost of them, but they parted with them to pre- 
serve life. So it is here — no earthly enjoyment, of what value 
soever it be, has such an excellency in it, such an absolute 
necessity to us of enjoying it, as Christ has. 

Objection. But 0, saith the soul, who can do this ? I 
am willing to have Christ, and to come up to every term he 
has laid down in the gospel ; I am willing to part with every 
sin, and to endure any suffering for Christ ; but Oh, I trem- 
ble to think, if it should come to a prison, to a stake, to an 
actual separation from all the comforts and relations in the 
world, what shall I do for strength to go through such diffi- 
cult work as this ? Here is the great difficulty in the way 
of many souls; they find a willingness, but fear the want of 
strength. 

Answer. How or where you shall find strength to en- 
dure these things for Christ, is not the question now before 
you. God will take care for that, and it shall be given you 
in that hour, and so others have found who have had the 



no.. 186 

same fears you have, I say, the question is not whether you 

arc able, but whether you are heartily willing, Christ a 
but your will ; be will provide ability. The greatest believer 
in the world cannot say, I am able to Buffer this or that for 

Christ; but the least, believer in the world must say, I. am 
willing, the Lord assist inn - me, to endure and suiter all things 
for his sake. 

3. The third thing which perfects the whole act, is an 
entire choice of Jesus Christ upon all the terms prescribed 
by him; the entireness of the choice, without halving or 
dividing, excepting or reserving, makes the consent full 
and effectual. There is a twofold consent of the will to 
Christ. 

There is a partial consent, which is always hypocritical, 
defective, and ineffectual ; thus the hypocrite consents to the 
offer of Christ. He is really willing to have the pardon of 
Christ, and the glory purchased by Christ ; but to part with 
his beloved lusts, and to give up his earthly enjoyments, his 
will cannot consent. 

There is a full and entire consent of the will, called, a 
believing with all the heart. Acts 8 : 37. Now this integ- 
rity and fulness of the will's choice, is that which closeth 
the union between Christ and the soul, and frees a man from 
the danger of hypocrisy. And there are three things which 
make the consent to and choice of Christ complete. 

(1.) We heartily consent to be Christ's, ivhen we give 
up all ice are and have to him ; so that after this -hoice of 
Christ, we look upon ourselves thenceforth as not our own, 
but bought with a price, to glorify God in our body and soul, 
which are his. 1 Cor. 6 : 19, 20. Soul and body are all 
that we are, and both these parts of ourselves do now pass, 
by an act of our own consent, into the Redeemer's right ; we 
are not to have the disposal^ of them ; that belongs to him 
who purchased them. You know that in all purchases, 
property is altered. You did live as your own, followed your 



136 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

own wills and passions, were under the dominion and at the 
heck of every lust ; but now the case is altered. " We our- 
selves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, 
serving divers lusts and pleasures." Tit. 3:3. So many 
lusts, so many lords. But now we have given ourselves to 
Christ, no more to be swayed, this way or that, against his 
word and the voice of our own consciences. Thus our souls 
and bodies are his, hallowed, dedicated to Christ, temples fcr 
God to dwell in. And then all other things follow of course : 
if I am the Lord's, then my time, my talents, and all that I 
have are his. 

(2.) As you must give up all to Christ, so you must 
derive and draw all you ic ant from him ; else your choice 
of Christ is not entire and full. God hath stored up in 
Christ all that you want, a full supply for every need ; and 
made it all communicable to you : "Who of God is made 
unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and 
redemption." 1 Cor. 1 : 30. All the believer's springs are 
in Christ. Have I any difficult business to do that requires 
counsel ? then I must repair to Christ the fountain of wisdom. 
Am I under guilt ? then I must repair to Christ for right- 
eousness. Is my soul defiled by corruption ? then must I go 
to Christ for sanctification. Do I groan under troubles of 
soul or body, temptations, or afflictions ? then must I relieve 
myself by the faith and hope of that complete redemption 
and final deliverance, procured by Christ from all these. If 
you consent to be Christ's, you must not look for justifica- 
tion partly upon his righteousness and partly upon your own 
graces and duties, but must make mention of his righteous- 
ness, even of his only. Psalm 71:16. If there is but one 
conduit in a town, and not a drop of water to be had else- 
where, then all the inhabitants of that town repair thither 
for w T ater. In the whole city of God there is but one foun- 
tain, and that is Christ ; there is not one drop of righteous- 
ness, holiness, strength, or comfort, to be had elsewhere. 



Then we draw all from Christ, when we live 
the new-born infant doth upon the mother's breast. 

(3.) Then is oar consent to and ohoioe of Chrisl entire 
and fail, when wi '// to demy ourselves and part 

with amy thing ice have for his sake; reckoning nothing 
lost to us which goes to the glory of Christ. Hon d 
ever our liberti< is, or lives are to as, if the Lord have 

need of them, we musl let them go. Tims you read, " They 
loved not their lives unto the death." Rev. 12:11. ] 
three things Bhow saving faith to be another manner of thing 
than the world generally understands it to be; and it is im- 
le for any man's will to open to and receive Christ, 
upon terms of such deep self-denial as these, until ther • 
conviction of our sin and misery, and discovery of Chri 
his glory and necessity ; and the drawing power of the Spirit 
upon the soul. 

Conviction of our sin and misery makes these terms of 
religion acceptable ; sinners stand debating with Christ, ex- 
cepting and objecting against his terms, until the Lord has 
shaken them by conviction over hell, and made them see the 
dreadful danger they are in; and then their cry is, "Men 
and brethren, what shall we do?" Acts 2:37; prescribe 
any means, impose upon us the greatest difficulties ; we are 
willing to comply with them. 

Nor will souls ever comply with these terms of the gos- 
pel, until a discovery lias been made to them of Jesus Christ 
in his glory and necessity. When a man feels his wants, 
and sees a complete remedy, his will then complies readily 
and freely ; the convinced sinner sees a full and suitable sup- 
ply in Christ for all his wants, a complete Saviour, in whom 
there is nothing defective, but in all respects according to the 
wants of a sinner's heart. 1 Cor. 1 : 24. 

To all this must be added the ]ooicerfd drawings of the 
Spirit, by which the will comes to Christ. " No man can 
come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw 



188 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

him." John 6 : 44. When these things are felt on the soul, 
it hears Christ's voice, his powerful call, which breaks asun- 
der all the bonds between a man and his earthly enjoyments ; 
and without these things the will is not to be persuaded to 
comply with the difficulties of religion. 

II. "We are to show how it appears that Jesus Christ 
will not refuse to come into the soul of any sinner, be his sins 
ever so great, when once he is made willing thus to receive 
Christ upon his own terms. Oh, sinner, what good tidings 
are these to thy soul, that Christ will not disdain to be in 
union and communion with thee, vile as thou art, if thy wiU 
stand open to him. The tidings are sweet, and I hope thou 
wilt find them as sure as they are sweet and comfortable, 
when thou shalt have seriously pondered the following evi- 
dences. 

Evidence 1. The truth of this assertion is seen in the 
form and manner of gospel- invitations. They are design- 
edly put into large, free, and most extensive terms, to assure 
sinners that Christ will not reject the worst sinner in the 
world, thus made willing to embrace him ; they are framed 
on purpose to anticipate or take away all objections from 
sinners. No other condition is put in the gospel but this 
only, Art thou heartily willing to take Christ upon his own 
terms ? The offers of Christ are extended to all that desire 
and thirst after him, John 7 : 37, to the greatest of sinners, 
upon this one condition, that they be willing and obedient. 
Isa. 1:19. " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gos- 
pel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, 
shall be saved." Mark 16 : 15, 1G. The invitation is ex- 
tended to all nations ; for in Christ Jesus " there is neither 
Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, 
Scythian, bond nor free." Col. 3:11. If there is any soul 
of any condition whatever, under the cope of heaven, whose 
will is wrought to a hearty compliance with the terms of the 
gospel, Christ will not be unwilling to come into that soul, 



NON E RE J EC 1 E 

though it has been never bo vile and abominable ; the heart 
of Mary Magdalene, which had been a habitation of devils, 
and the soul el' a Saul, a bloody, raging persecutor, will make 
aa delightful habitations for Christ as the soul of the most 
exemplary person in the world, when once the will is thus 
opened. 

Evidence '2. The truth of this assertion further app 
from the encouraging promises made by Christ to all who 
arc thus made willing to come unto him. All the promises 
with one mouth assure the willing sinner of a welcome to 
Christ. Mark that glorious promise, from which so many 
thousand souls have drawn encouragement and help at their 
first coming to Christ : " All that the Father giveth me, shall 
come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise 
cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine 
own will, hut the will of him that sent me." John 6 : 37, 
38. Note here, 

(l.) That this is not a promise made to those that are 
already in Christ, that they shall never be cast out by apos- 
tasy or final desertion ; but a promise made to coming souls, 
to such as are moving towards Christ, under great discour- 
agements, fears, and tremblings. When a sinner looks to 
Christ, and sees his fulness and suitableness, and his own 
pinching need and want of him, 0, says he, that I had an 
interest in him, though I should beg my bread in desolate 
places. But looking into his own heart, and seeing so much 
guilt and un worthiness there, then saith he, how can I think 
that Jesus Christ will come into such a heart as this ? These 
are the persons upon whom this promise casts an encouraging 
aspect. 

(2.) And because the fears of such persons are much 
more than the fears that others have, Christ has put a double 
negative into this promise, for the soul's encouragement ; I 
will not, in any case or at any hand, cast out such a soul 
as this. 



190 CHIIIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

(3.) And to put all beyond doubt, he not only assures the 
soul that he will not, but condescends to give it the reason 
why he will not cast it out : "I came down from heaven, not 
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." 
John 6 : 38. As if he had said, This was the very errand 
upon which I came down from heaven ; it was my great 
business to receive all that were made willing to come to 
me ; for this I had my Father's commission : " The Lord 
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; 
he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to pro- 
claim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the 
prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the accept- 
able year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our 
God; to comfort all that mourn." Isa. 61 : 1, 2. I can- 
not be faithful to the trust committed to me by my Father, 
should I shut the door upon such souls. How can Christ 
comfort the soul that mourns, but by opening his arms of 
mercy to receive it ? If he should say to the convinced sin- 
ner, Hold thy peace, I will give thee riches, honors, and 
pleasures in the world ; but as for me, thou canst not have 
union with me ; this would never comfort the heart of a 
convinced sinner : it is Christ, and none but Christ, can 
quiet it. Like unto this, is that testimony and promise made 
on purpose for the encouragement of willing souls : "To 
him give all the prophets witness, that through his name 
whosoever believeth on him shall receive remission of sins." 
Acts 10 : 43. This you see is a truth confirmed by the tes- 
timony of all the prophets, who foretold what his gracious 
readiness to receive poor broken-hearted sinners should be; 
and they neither did, nor could conspire to deceive the world. 
These gracious assurances and promises cut off all pleas 
against faith, from the greatness of sin ; and why should we 
except where God has not excepted ? Had Christ said, All 
sinners of such a degree may come unto me, but let all others 
stand back, the case had been otherwise ; but this promise 



NOiN E ! IM 

assures us, that all the Bincerely willing, Bhall be truly wel- 
come to Jesus Christ. Moreover, these universal prom 
take away all fear of presumption in coming to Christ. 
This is the ease of many a soul. I am afraid I am running 
from despair into presumption; I fear I am an unbidden. 
and therefore shall be an unwelcome guest to Christ. All 
this is prevented by these sweet universal terms inserted on 
purpose in these promises for our encouragement. 

Evidence 3. The willingness of Christ to receive the 
willing soul, however great its sins and unworthiness, ap- 
pears from the actual grants of pardon and mercy, even to 
the vilest sinners on earth, when they thus come to him. 
Here you see how the waters of free-grace rise higher and 
higher. An invitation is much ; a promise of welcome is 
more ; but the actual grant of mercy is most satisfying of 
all. Come on, trembling soul, be not discouraged, stretch 
out the weak arms of thy faith to that great and gracious 
Redeemer ; open thy heart wide to receive him : he will not 
refuse to come in. He hath sealed thousands of pardons to 
as vile wretches as thyself; he never yet shut the door ol 
mercy upon a willing, hungering soul. It is a great matter 
to have the way beaten before thee in thy way to Christ 
If thou wert the first sinner that had cast his soul upon him, 
I confess I should want the encouragement I am now giving 
thee ; but when so many have gone before thee, and all 
found a welcome beyond their expectation, what encourage- 
ment is breathed into thy trembling, discouraged heart to 
go on and venture thyself upon Christ as they did. What 
an example have w T e in Manasseh, 2 Chron. 33 : 3-12 — an 
idolater, one that used enchantments, divinations, and famil- 
iar spirits, and shed innocent blood in the streets of Jerusa- 
lem. A man might rake the world, and hardly bring to 
sight a viler wretch, a greater monster in wickedness ; yet 
his heart being broken and his will bowed, this man found 
mercy. How great a simier was Mary, that came to Christ 



192 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOU. 

in the house of Simon the Pharisee, Luke 7 : 37-50 ; so 
notorious a sinner, that Simon took offence at Christ for suf- 
fering her to come into his presence. If this man were a 
prophet, said he, he would have known who and what 
manner of woman this is who touched him, for she is a sin- 
ner. Yet Mary's heart being broken for sin, and made 
willing to accept of a Saviour, received a gracious demon- 
stration of welcome from Christ, and all other sinners are 
encouraged by her example. Once more, you have an emi- 
nent example in the abundant welcome of another sinner to 
Christ, who owned himself the greatest of sinners ; a perse- 
cutor, a blasphemer, injurious ; but, saith he, " I obtained 
mercy." 1 Tim. 1:16. And the example of his gracious 
reception with Christ is recorded as an encouragement to 
al'l that should hereafter believe. How many thousands are 
now in hell that never were guilty of greater enormities than 
the Corinthians. Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, 
covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, such were some 
of them ; yet they were sanctified, washed, justified, in the 
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 
1 Cor. G : 9-11. If ever Christ would have shut the door 
of mercy upon any — if ever he would have been reluctant 
to come into any souls, certainly these were the souls he 
would have disdained to come near. what a demonstra- 
tion is here of that comfortable point before us : that Christ 
will not refuse to come into the soul of the vilest siimer, 
when once it is made heartily willing to open to him. 

Evidence 4. A further evidence of this comfortable truth 
shall be taken from the scriptural emblems of the abundant 
grace of God, and riches of mercy in Christ, towards all 
broken-hearted and willing sinners. There are some 
chosen emblems which bring down the grace of God before 
the eyes of men ; among which I will single out three 
glorious resemblances of free-grace, chosen by his wisdom 
on purpose for the encouragement of drooping sinners. 



NONE REJECTED. 193 

(1.) A resembla\ the heavens that cover and 

compass this earth. What an inconsiderable spot is the 
whole terrestrial globe, to those high and all-surrounding 
heavens! And yet these heavens are not at so vast a dis- 
tance above the earth, as the pardoning grace of God is 
above the guilt, yea, and the very thoughts of poor sinners. 
F<ir, of the pardoning grace of God to penitent and willing' 
souls, that precious scripture speaks, " Let the wicked for- 
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and 
let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 
Isa. 55:7. 0, saith the soul, I cannot think God will ever 
have mercy on such a wretch as I. Why? saith he; my 
thoughts are not your thoughts, and it is well they are not ; 
for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my 
thoughts higher than your thoughts. You cannot take the 
height nor sound the depth of my pardoning grace. 

(2.) Another emblem is taken from the sun in the heav- 
ens. You know, that soon this part of the w T orld will he the 
throne of darkness, the sable curtains of the night will spread 
over all its beauties, and perhaps in the morning a thick fog 
or mist will cover it ; thick clouds may darken the heavens. 
But, behold the glorious creature the sun chasing before him 
the darkness of the night, breaking up the mists of the 
morning, scattering the dark and thick clouds of heaven ; 
they are all gone, and there is no appearance of them. 
Just so, saith God, shall it be with thy sins, and thy fears 
arising out of them. " I have blotted out as a thick cloud 
thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins." Isa. 44 : 22. 
Thy soul is beclouded, thy fears have been like a mist, so 
that thou canst not see the grounds of thy encouragement ; 
but my grace shall rise upon thee like the sun in the heavens, 
and scatter all these dismal clouds, both of guilt and fear, 
and make a clear heaven over thee, and a clear soul within 
thee. " Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of 

Christ Knocking. 9 



194 CHUIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

righteousness arise with healing in his wings." Malachi 
4:2. 

(3.) Another resemblance you have from the sea, the 
great abyss, that vast congregation of waters whose depth 
no line can fathom. Veer out as much line as you will, you 
cannot touch the bottom. To this unfathomable ocean the 
pardoning grace of God is also compared : " Who is a God 
like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the 
transgression of the remnant of his heritage ? He retaineth 
not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He 
will turn again, he will have compassion upon us ; he will 
subdue our iniquities ; and thou wilt cast all their sins into 
the depths of the sea." Micah 7 : 18, 19. If the loftiest 
pyramid or highest mountain were cast into the depth of the 
sea, it would never be seen more by the eyes of men. God 
has chosen these emblems of his grace, to obviate the com- 
mon discouragement of Satan, taken from the greatness and 
aggravation of sin ; and thou art to make use of them, and 
bless the Lord for them. He never designed them for 
encouragement to sin, but for encouragement to repentance 
and faith. 

Evidence 5. The truth of this conclusion will also 
appear from the character and 'properties of the grace and 
pardoning mercy of God towards penitent sinners. There 
are three glorious characters of divine grace, which all assure 
such sinners of welcome to Christ, whatever they have been 
or done. 

*(1.) It is super 'abounding grace. Waters do not so 
abound in the ocean, nor light in the sun, as grace and com- 
passion in God towards broken-hearted sinners. " Let him 
return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; 
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isa. 55 : 8. 
The compassion of God inserted that word on purpose to 
relieve poor souls fainting under the sense of their abound- 
ing iniquities. Here is abundant pardon for abounding 



NONE B K.i EC1 L90 

guilt ; and, lesl a desponding sinner should not End enough 
here to quiet Ins fears, the Lord goes yel further in th 

on of Ins grace : " \\ here sin abounded, grace did much 
move abound." ELom. 5 : 2(to It overflow e d all the bounds, 

it rose quite above the high-water mark of guill ; but these 

overflowings of grace run onlj through that channel of all 

grace, Jesus Christ, to broken-hearted and obedient Burners. 

(2.) The grace of God to such souls is free — every way 

free ; it is the design of the gospel to exhibit this its glory. 
It eosts you nothing but acceptance ; it is free without meril ; 
yea, free against merit. You can deserve nothing of God, 
therefore his grace is free without merit; yea, you have 
deserved hell as often as you have sinned against him, and 
so it is free against merit. If a pardon were to be pur- 
chased by us, we are wholly without means for such a pur- 
chase ; neither could we borrow from men or angels a suffi- 
cient sum : blessed be God, therefore, that it flows freely to 
us without money and without price. Isa. 55 : 1. 

(3.) Grace glories in another property also, which is 
very encouraging to the soul of a drooping sinner — it is the 
attribute which God greatly delights to exercise. The 
mother gives not her breast with such delight to her hungiy 
crying child, as the Lord does his mercy to broken-hearted 
and hungry sinners. In this attribute his people therefore 
admire him : " Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth 
iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of 
his heritage ? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because 
he delighteth in mercy." Micah 7 : 18. You camiot give 
Jesus Christ more delightful employment than to bind up 
the wounds of convinced and humbled sinners. Let every 
such soul come to Christ and welcome ; for he greatly 
delights in such employments. 

Evidence 6. Such sinners need not doubt a welcome 
reception with Christ ; for should he reject such as these, 
then none can have the benefit of his blood, and conse 



196 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOH. 

quently it was shed in vain, as water spilt upon the ground. 
The blood of Christ is invaluably precious, and it cannot 
be lost ; it would be an impeachment of the wisdom and 
goodness of God to think so ; yet so it must be, if broken- 
hearted and willing souls are rejected and turned back from 
him. There are but two sorts of sinners in the world, the 
hardened and the broken-hearted, willing and unwilling 
sinners. As for impenitent and obstinate sinners, they can 
have no benefit by the blood of Christ ; they shall die in 
their sins ; the gospel cuts them off from all expectation of 
pardon and mercy. Now there is but one sort of sinners 
more left in the world, and they are convinced and humbled 
sinners, who are made heartily willing to receive Christ 
upon his own terms — who stretch forth the hand of desire 
to him, and pant after an interest in him. Should Christ 
reject these also, who shall receive the benefit of his blood? 
Did Christ die in vain ; or can the counsels of heaven prove 
abortive ? No ; fear not therefore to go to Christ, thou 
broken-hearted sinner, thou panting, longing soul ; fear not, 
he will not cast thee out. 

Evidence 7. Moreover, for the encouragement of all 
such souls, mercy and pardon are designed for and bestow- 
ed upon the greatest sinners, to enhance the glory of free- 
grace to the highest. God chooses such sinners as you are, 
on purpose to illustrate the glory of his grace in and upon 
you : he knows that you, to whom so much is forgiven, will 
love much. Luke 7 : 47. Ye that have done so much 
against Iris glory, will excel others in zeal and obedience. 
1 Cor. 15:9, 10. You will go beyond others in service for 
God, as you have done in sinning against him. 

Inference 1. Lea?'?i hence what an invaluable mercy 
it is to enjoy the gospel, which is so great a relief to the dis- 
tressed consciences of sinners. Here only is that balm that 
heals your spiritual wounds. The gospel hath been too 
little prized among us, the Lord pardon the guilt thereof to 



us. All, brethren, if you were in the heathen world with 

your sick and WOUnded COl \\Ii;i1 WOUld JOU do? 

There are no Bible >r promif 

Ohrist, or the blood of sprinkling, which arc the true 

ediee of n< That is a pitiful oiy, Bftieah 

ball I come before the Lord, and bow w 

before the high God ! Shall 1 com e before him with burnt- 

with calves of .1 year old.' Will the Lord be 

pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand riven 

of oil ! Shall I give my first-born lor my trail 11, the 

fruit of my body tor the sin of my soul?" Behold hero the 

Anguish oi' a distressed, sin-burdened con it would 

give up any thing in the world for peace : men would 
their dearest children, their first-born into the burning 
Barnes, if that might be an atonement lor their sins. the 
ad the misery of an unrelieved con- 
science ; but the gospel which you enjoy leads you to the 
fountain of pardon and peace. "With his stripes we are 
healed." Isa. 53 : 5. The voice of the gospel is peace to 
every one that believeth — a rational peace, founded upon 
the full satisfaction of Christ, " In whom we have redemp- 
tion through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to 
the riches of his grace." Eph. 1 : 7. Here you see justice 
and mercy embracing each other ;' God is satisfied, and the 
sinner justified ; for conscience demands as much to satisfy 
it, as God to satisfy him ; if God be satisfied, conscience is 
satisfied. " Blessed is the people that know the joyf.il 
sound." Psalm 89 : 15. And doubtless it is a joyful sound 
to ever) 7 convinced and humbled soul. " Beautiful upon the 
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, 
that publisheth peace." Isa. 52 : 7. It is a gospel worthy 
of all acceptation. 1 Tim. 1 : 15. It brings with it a ful- 
ness of blessings among the people. Provoke not God to 
extinguish this blessed light. Great is our wantonness 
ominous is our barrenness and ingratitude. " Yet a little 



198 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR,. 

while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light 
lest darkness come upon you ; for he that walketh in dask 
ness, knoweth not whither he goeth." John 12:35. Should 
God put out this light, whither would ye go ? AYho shall 
pour balm into your distressed consciences ? 

2. Hence itfolloics that the heinousness of past sins is 
no bar to believing and accepting Christ npon gospel-tenns. 
Let no sinner be dismayed by the atrocity of sins past from 
coming to Jesus Christ for remission and peace. J am 
aware what mischievous use Satan makes of former sins to 
discourage souls from the work of faith. By heaping them 
together, he raises a mountain between Christ and the dis- 
tressed soul ; but behold this day Christ leaping over these 
mountains. Could this objection be rolled out of the way, 
sinners would go on in hope ; but certainly, if God has given 
thee a broken heart and a willing mind, the greatness of thy 
sin need not discourage thee from believing. For, 

(1.) Thou hast sufficient encouragement from the suf- 
ficiency of the causes of pardon, whatever thy particular 
enormities have been. There is a sufficiency in the impul- 
sive cause, the free-grace and mercy of God. Exod. 34 : 6, 
7 ; Mic. 7 : 18, 19 ; Isa. 55 : 7-9 ; there is mercy enough 
in God to heal and cover all. And there is no less sufficiency 
in the meritorious cause of pardon, the blood of Jesus Christ, 
which taketh away all sin. 1 John, 1:7; John 1 : 29. 
And it must needs be so, because of its divine blood. Acts 
20 : 28. Neither is there any defect in the applying cause, 
the Spirit of God, who has already begun to work upon thy 
heart, and is able to break it and bow it, and bring it fully 
to Christ, and to complete the work of faith upon thee with 
power. Thou complainest that thou canst not mourn ncr 
believe as thou wouldst ; but he wants no ability to supply 
all the defects of thy repentance and faith. If, then, the 
mercy of God be sufficient to pardon the sins of a creature — 
if the blood of Christ, the treasures and revenues of a king 



NO. BD. 190 

be able to pay the d< Spirit of God, 

who works by an almighty power, be able to convince thee 
of right- 1 aa well as sin, John L6 : 9, 10 — if all t] 

thrt 3 be sufficient, the first to move, the 

second to purchase, and the third to apply ; what hinders 
but thy trembling conscience may go to Christ, and thy 
couraged soul move onward with hope in the w r ay of believ- 
ing, whatever thy former enormities have been? 

(2.) If God raises glory to his name out of the great- 
ness of the sins he pardons, then the greatness of sin can 
be no discouragement to believing ; and this he does. " I 
will cleanse them from all their iniquity, wiiereby they have 
sinned against me ; and I will pardon all their iniquities, 
whereby they have sinned and whereby they have trans- 
gressed against me. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a 
praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which 
shall hear all the good that I do unto them : and they shall 
fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the pros- 
perity that I procure unto it," Jer. 33 : 8, 9 ; as a cure 
performed upon a man laboring under a desperate disease 
honors the physician, and spreads his name far and near. 
Satan envies God this glory and thy soul this comfort, and 
therefore scares thee off from Christ by the aggravations of 
thy sins. David was willing to give God the glory of 
pardoning his great iniquities, and with that very argument 
entreats him for a pardon : " Pardon mine iniquity, for it is 
great." Psalm 25 : 11. You see there are strange w T ays of 
arguing in Scripture, which are not in use among men ; this 
is one, Lord, pardon my sin, for it is great. He does not 
say, Lord, pardon it, for it is but a small offence ; but par- 
don it because it is great ; and the greater it is, the greater 
glory wilt thou have in pardoning it. And then there is 
another way of arguing for pardon in the Scripture, which 
is peculiar ; and that is, to argue from former pardons unto 
new pardons. "When men beg pardon one of another, they 



200 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

are wont to say, I never wronged you before, and therefore 
forgive now ; but here it is quite otherwise : Lord, thou hast 
signed thousands of pardons heretofore, therefore pardon me 
again. Such is the plea in Num. 14:19, " Pardon, I beseech 
thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness 
of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people from 
Egypt even until now." 

(3.) As great sins as those that now confront thy con- 
science have been actually forgiven to men, upon their 
humiliation and closing with Christ. God forbid I should 
diminish and extenuate sin ; but certain I am that free- 
grace has pardoned as great sinners as thou art, upon their 
repentance and faith. What think you ? had you had a hand 
in putting Christ to death, would not that sin have been as 
dreadful as any that now discourages you ? Yea, certainly, 
you would have thought that an unpardonable sin ; and yet 
behold, that very sin was no bar to their pardon when once 
they were pricked in their heart, and made willing to come 
to Christ. Acts 2 : 36-35. 

(4.) If it be the design and policy of Satan to object the 
greatness of your sins to prevent their pardon, then it is 
neither your duty nor interest to use it for the same end ; 
thus entering into a confederacy wjth your mortal enemy in 
a plot against the honor of Christ, and the salvation of your 
own soul. Take heed what you do, seal not Satan's con- 
clusions. Do you think it is a small matter to be confed- 
erate with the devil ? Certainly this is his design ; he mag- 
nifies your sins to discourage you from faith. While you 
were secure and carnal, he never magnified, but diminished 
your sins to you ; but now the Lord has opened your eyes, 
and you are brought near to the door of hope, mercy, and 
p?rdon, he magnifies them, hoping thereby to lame and 
weaken thy faith, that it shall not be able to carry thee 
to Christ. 

(5.) If thy sin is really unpardonable, then God has 






NONE REJE 

somewhere excepted it in i 1-grant. He 

where said. The man that has committed this sin, or con- 
tinued so man] in it, shall nei en bul in 
the whole New Testament there is bnl one sin thai ia abso- 
lutely ! 6om the possibility of pardon, and the 
a sin as tlr ist fully acquit thee 
from the guill of. This sin indeed ub I : " The blas- 
phemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven onto 
men." Matt. 12: 31. This is that which the Scripture 
calls " a sin unto death." 1 John, 5:16. Let apostate 
professors, transformed into persecutors, scoffers, and haters 
of godliness and the professors of it, look to themselves ; 
the dreadful symptoms of this sin appear upon such. But 
the humbled soul thirsting after Christ stands clear of the 
guilt of that sin. 

(6.) If there were no forgiveness with God for great 
sinners, then great sinners had never been invited to come 
to Christ. The invitations of the gospel are no mockeries, 
but things of most awful solemnity. Now, such sinners are 
called and invited under the encouragement of a pardon. 
Consult Isa. 1 : 10-17, and see the horrid aggravations of 
the people's sins; and yet, at ver. 17, 18, you may read the 
gracious invitations of God, with promises of a full remis- 
sion. So in the third chapter of Jeremiah, what a sad cat 
alogue of sins with their aggravations do you find ? and 
yet it is said, " Go and proclaim these words towards the 
north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the 
Lord ; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for 
I am merciful." 

\1.) If thy sins had not been capable of remission, God 
Taould never have given thee conviction of sin, nor have 
drawn forth the desires of thy heart in this manner after 
Christ. He hath united remission to repentance, Acts 5:31, 
and a blessing to gracious desires and hunge rings, Matt. 5:6. 
There is therefore hope, that when God has given thee one, 

9* 



202 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOJL. 

he will not long withhold the other. This very wounding 
of thy heart by compunction, and drawing forth thy will by 
inclination, shows that remission is not only possible, but 
even at the door. 

(8.) Let this also be thine encouragement, whatever 
Satan or thine own heart may suggest to discourage thee, 
that great sinners are moving in the way of repentance and 
faith to a great Saviour, who hath merit enough in his blood, 
and mercy enough in his heart, to save to the uttermost all 
that come unto God by him. Heb. 7 : 25. The Lord open 
to the eyes of your faith the rich treasury of free-grace, 
Exodus 34 : 6, 7, and give you a sight of that plenteous 
redemption and forgiveness which are with God, Psalm 
130 : 4, 7, that you may not cast reproach on the most 
glorious attribute of God, undervalue the precious blood of 
Christ, and stab your own souls with a death-wound of des- 
peration ; which is what Satan intends, and what the gospel 
designs to prevent. 

3. If the vilest of sinners may as readily be pardoned, 
on their closing with Christ by faith, as the least of sinners, 
the 'pardon and salvation of sinners is not built upon any 
righteousness in themselves, but only on the free-grace of 
God in Jesus Christ. Do not think God hath set the blood 
of Christ to sale, and that those only are capable of the ben- 
efits of it who have lived the most strict and sober lives. 
No ; though sobriety, morality, and strictness in religious 
duties are commanded and commended in the gospel, yet 
no man by these things can purchase a pardon for the least 
sin. "If by grace, then it is no more of works : otherwise 
grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is 
no more grace; otherwise work is no more work." Rom. 
11:6. See how these exclude one another: thus Titus 
3:5, " Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 
but according to his mercy he saved us." No man can sat- 
isfy God by any thing he can do or suffer ; not by doing, for 



NONE B BD. 

all we do is mixed with sin, Job 14 : 1, and that which 
sinful can be no atones All we do or can do 

is a debt due to God, Luke 17 : 10, and one debt cannot 
satisfy ti.r another. Nor yet by mfferi the sufferings 

awarded by the law arc everlasting ; and to be ever sat; 
lug is never to satisfy: so then, by the works of the law 
♦hall no flesh living be justified in his sight. The saints in 
ill generations have fled to mercy for remission. Psalm 
IJu : 8. Of the two debtors, Luke 7 : 41, 42, though thrre 
A'as a vast difference in the debts, yet of the lesser, as well 
ts of the greater, it is said they had nothing to pay. Noth- 
ing but the satisfaction of Christ can meet the demands of 
God upon you. 

4. If the grace of Christ be thus free to the greatest of 
sinners, it is both our sin and folly to keep away from 
Christ, and to draw back from believing, for ivant of qual- 
ifications which ice find not to be wrought in our hearts. 
Poor convinced souls think if they had more humility, ten- 
derness, love to God, and spirituality of mind, this would 
be some encouragement to believe ; but because they have 
no such ornaments to dress up their souls withal, they are 
not fit to go to Christ. Now, to correct this great mistake, 
let two things be considered. 

(1 .) Such an idea as this crosses the very stream of the 
covenant of grace, where nothing is sold, but all is freely 
given. This is the very spirit of the covenant of works : 
fain would we find something in ourselves to bring to God, 
to procure his favor and acceptance ; but the gospel tells 
tis we must come naked and empty-handed, to be justified 
freely by his grace. Rom. 3 : 24. We must be justified as 
Abraham was, who believed in him that justifieth the 
ungodly ; "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him 
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteous- 
ness." Rom. 4 : 5. The meaning is, to him that worketh 
not in a law-sense, to procure pardon and acceptance by and 



204 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

for his works. Go then, poor sinner, unto God through 
Christ, and tell him thou hast nothing to bring him ; that 
thou comest not to bring, but to receive. Lord, I am a vile 
sinner, I have nothing to plead but thy mercy and Christ's 
merit. This is the spirit of the gospel. 

(2.] By delaying faith, for want of these qualifications, 
you invert the settled order of the gospel. It is as if a man 
should say, If I were cured of such and such disease, I 
would go to the physician. Alas, could you otherwise 
procure the healing of your corruptions, or the gracious 
qualifl nations you speak of, you would have no need to go to 
Christ at all. Nothing is required of us in corning to 
Christ, but such a sense of and sorrow for sin, as makes us 
heartily willing to accept Christ and subscribe the terms on 
which he is offered in the gospel. 

5. Behold the admirable condescension of Christ, that 
lie comes into the heart of the vilest sinner, and takes uj? 
his abode in that soul which has been the seat of Satan, 
where he lias ruled, and every lust has been harbored! 
In two things the admirable condescension of Christ appears. 
First, in taking union with our nature after sin had blasted 
the beauty of it. This was marvellous indeed, and was justly 
admired by the apostle : " He made himself of no reputation, 
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made 
in the likeness of men." Phil. 2 : 7. '"Yea, God sent his 
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." Horn. 8:3. But, 
secondly, it is admirable in our eyes that Christ should 
become united with our persons, and take up his abode in 
our hearts, after Satan and sin had so long inhabited and 
defiled them — that he should accept these members as 
instruments of his service — that very tongue to praise him 
that had blasphemed him ; yet so he is willing to do, and 
commands us to deliver them up to him : " As ye have 
yielded your members servants to uncleajmess, and to 
iniquity unto iniquity ; even so now yield your members 



servants to righteousness, unto holiness." Rom. 6 : i 9. One 
would have thought Jesus Christ, would have Baid, Vile 
Wretch, Batao ha< had the service of thy soul and body, 
from the beginning to this day; thy memory hath hem 
his Storehouse, thy mouth his shop, thy will his throne, 

and all thy members his tools and instruments I tinst 

me: thou hast been a creature dedicated to Satan, and to 
him thou shaft go. Instead of tins, the merciful Lord 
declares his willingness, if thou wilt open thy soul to receive 
him, to cleanse it by his Spirit, and make it his tempi 
dwell in. admirable grace ! 

6. How just and inevitable icill be their da/mna 
who consent not to the necessary and reasonable terms oj 
the gospel, which is the only point on which Christ a 
their souls part for ever. The terms required by the gos- 
pel are every way equitable and reasonable. If a gracious 
prince will bestow a pardon upon a traitor, on the condition 
that he lay down his arms, acknowledge his offence, and 
attach himself to his prince's service, and he shall refuse so 
to do, how just would his destruction be. And what else 
does God require of thee, but this? " Let the wicked for- 
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and 
let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 
Is a. 55 : 7. And as the damnation of such is just, so it will 
be inevitable : for if there is no way to glory but by Christ, 
as you know there is not, from Acts 4 : 12, "Neither is 
there salvation in any other ;" and if there is no way to 
Christ, but by accepting him upon these very terms, as it 
plainly appears, from Luke 14 : 26, there is not, what 
remains but inevitable destruction to all that reject the 
terms of the gospel? If you will not have Christ with all 
the sufferings and reproaches that attend him, your mouths 
will be stopped ; no plea will be left you in the great day 
You refused the gracious offer when it was seasonably made 



206 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

you by the gospel, and you must expect no more such 
offers to eternity. Thy blood, sinner, be upon thine own 
head ; the freeness and importunity of the tenders of grace 
will then only serve to illustrate and clear the righteousness 
of God in thy condemnation. 

In the next place, the doctrine naturally leads me to an 
earnest persuasive unto all sinners, of what kind or degree 
soever they be, to hearken to the voice of Christ, who takes 
them all within the compass of his gracious invitation in the 
text, saying, " If any man hear my voice and open the 
door, I will come in." Let all sinners bless God for the 
extent of this invitation — that they find themselves by it 
within the reach of a merciful Redeemer ; a.id that there is 
nothing wanting to secure their salvation, but the hearty 
consent of their wills to the reasonable and necessary terms 
of the gospel. In the whole book of God, there is but one 
case absolutely excepted from the possibility of forgiveness ; 
of which Christ speaks, Matt. 12 : 31, 32. And what is the 
reason that this only is an incurable wound ? It cannot be 
because the malignity of this sin exceeds the virtue of the 
blood of Christ, but because there is no sacrifice appointed 
by the Lord for it. God never designed that the blood of 
Christ should be an expiatory sacrifice for that sin, as the 
apostle plainly speaks, Heb. 6 : 4-7. All other sins and 
blasphemies shall be forgiven unto men, saith Christ ; that 
is, they are capable of forgiveness, upon sincere and actual 
repentance and faith ; yea, they have been pardoned unto 
many. The greater any man's sins have been, the greater 
need he has to hasten to Christ for pardon. There are 
some greater sinners than others ; for though no sin be light 
and trivial in itself, yet, compared one with another, there is 
a vast difference between them in the aggravation of sins. 
I will labor to show you by what rules men are to estimate 
the greatness and aggravation of sin ; and then to convince 



NONE REJECTED. 207 

you that the greatest of Burners may have mercy as we] 

the less. "Publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom 
of God before yon," saith Christ, Matt. 22 :31. The ru 

by which to estimate the aggravations and greatness of sin 

are those : 

7. There are sins, of infirmity, committed out of weak' 

-ncss ; and there arc crying sins in the ears of the Lord. 
Of sins of infirmity you read in Gal. 6:1, where it is 
called being " overtaken in a fault." Here is no deliberate 
consent, but a surprise : these go not to the account of gn 
and heinous enormities, called in Scripture, crying sins, such 
as the sin of oppression, Hab. 2 : 10, 11 : " The stone shall 
cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall 
answer it." The meaning is, that the injustice and oppres- 
sion which men have used in raising their houses, shall cry 
in the ears of the Lord for vengeance. The stone in the 
wall shall say, I was digged out of the quarry, hewn, and 
laid here by the unrewarded labors of the poor mason ; and 
the timber out of the beam shall say, I was hewn, squared, 
and placed here by the unrewarded hands of the carpenter. 
This is a crying sin ; so also is the sin of murder, when our 
hands have been defiled with innocent bloo^. This makes a 
dismal cry to heaven : " The voice of thy brother's blood 
crieth unto me from the ground." Gen. 4:10. This is a sin 
that makes a horrid outcry in both worlds at once : to God 
and in the sinner's conscience. The sin of Sodom made a cry 
which went up to heaven. " The cry of Sodom and Gomor- 
rah is great, and because their sin is very grievous." Gen. 
18 : 20. Compare these *ins with those of common infirm- 
ity, which come by way of involuntary surprise, and what a 
vast difference will be found in the aggravation of them. 

8. You find in Scripture a great difference 'put betiveen 
those sins committed against the light of knowledge in the 
sinner's conscience, and sins of ignorance committed for 
want of knowledge. Christ himself puts a great difference 



208 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

between them, Luke 12 : 47, 48 ; and so doth the apostle 
" To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to hirn 
it is sin," James 4 : 17 — sin with a witness. 

9. There are single acts of sin, and continued or re- 
peated acts of sin — sins committed after convictions, prom- 
ises, and resolutions. There is not so much guilt in a single 
act of sin as in a continued course of sin, adding of drunk- 
enness to thirst, Dent. 29 : 19 ; described also as adding sin 
to sin, Isa. 30 : 1. For as it is in numbering, so in sin- 
ning: if the first figure be 1, the second is 10, the third 
100, the fourth 1,000 ; and every addition makes a greater 
multiplication. what a dreadful reckoning will there be 
for the consciences of sinners ! 

10. Contrivers and studiers of sin are alivays in Scrip* 
ture placed in the first rank of sinners. The best servant 
God has in the world may be surprised by the deceitfulness 
of sin, against the bent and resolution of his soul ; but the 
contrivance and plotting sin is quite another thing ; therefore 
it is said of the wicked, " They conceive mischief, and bring 
forth vanity, and their belly prep areth deceit." Job 15 : 35. 
Sin has its time of conception, growth, and birth ; and alJ 
this by the deliberate consent of the heart and will, whicl? 
cherish it. 

11. There are ringleaders in sin, and single personal 
sins which spread no further than ourselves. A ring- 
leader in sin is in Scripture reckoned among the greatest 
sinners : " Thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of 
Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block be- 
fore the children of Israel." Rev. 2 : 14. Thus Jero- 
boam the son of Nebat made Israel to sin. There is the 
same difference between these and single personal sins, as 
there is between a chain-shot and a single bullet. Mind 
this, you that have induced others to sin by your counsel 
or example. 

12. There are sins in which men take pleasure, and 



nct 

nm for which men mourn. The more pleasure any man 
takes in sin, the greater is the sin in i nation. We 

read of some in whose mouths wickednei eet, and 

they hide it under their tongue. Job 20:12. That is, 

they draw a nival deal oi' contemplative delight before and 
alter the commission of sin, as well aa in the commission of 

it. It is had enough to sin ami Bigh, to sin and weep ; but 
to sin and boast, to sin and make a. moid; of sin, what pro- 
digious Binning is this! sinner, what a heart hast thou, 

that can sport with that which grieves God and crucified 

Christ, and which, without deep repentance, will damn thi 
own soul. 

13. The more bonds of restraint any man breaks asun- 
der to commit sin, the greater that sin is in the sight of 
God. There are some persons upon whom God has laid 
more restraints to keep them back from iniquity, than lie 
has upon others. The more mercies he has bestowed upon 
you, the more restraints you have from sin. So many mer- 
cies, so many ties, Jer. 2 : 5, 6 ; especially spiritual mercies, 
as light in your minds, pardons sealed to your consciences, 
love manifested to your souls. Such also are your own 
vows and resolutions: " Thou saidst, I will not transgress." 
Jer. 2 : 20. Didst not thou promise me, saith God, more 
care and circumspection for time to come ? And. such are 
all the examples and warnings God has given us by his 
judgments upon others. 1 Cor. 10 : 11. These things 
make sin out of measure sinful. The design of all this is 
to show you the indispensable need of repentance and faith 
to carry you to Christ. 

Objection. But I am the person upon whom these 
aggravated sins are found. You speak to me of going to 
Christ ; alas, there is no hope of mercy for such a wretch 
as I am. 

Answer. Give me leave to tell you, that you have a 
text before you which clears the way of your duty and sal 



210 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

vation at once : " If any man," be lie what lie may, and be 
his sins never so great, " will hear my voice and open the 
door, I will come in to him," saith Christ. There is mercy in 
Jesus Christ for thee, who art guilty of crying sins ; for thee, 
who hast sinned against light ; for thee, who " hast added 
drunkenness to thirst ;" for thee, who hast contrived sin 
with deliberation ; for thee, who hast induced others to sin 
by counsel or example ; for thee, who hast taken pleasure 
in iniquity, and made a sport of sin ; yea, and for thee, who 
hast broken asunder the bonds of mercies, vows, and warn- 
ings, provided thou wilt now hear the voice of Christ, and 
thy will open to him with a hearty consent. Isa. 55 : 4. 
You are great sinners ; but I show this day a great and 
almighty Saviour, one who is able to save to the uttermost 
all that come unto God by him. Heb. 7 : 25. There is a 
sacrifice appointed for these sins. Bless God for that ; they 
are nowhere excepted from the possibility of forgiveness. 
Nothing but the impenitence of thy heart, and the obstinacy 
of thy will, can hinder thee from a full pardon. Look round 
about thee to the uttermost horizon of thy guilt, and Christ 
can save to the uttermost point the eye of thy conscience 
can discern, yea, and beyond it too ; but then thou must 
come unto him. You speak of the greatness of sin, and you 
have indeed cause to have sad thoughts about it ; but you 
consider not that your unbelief, by which you stand off from 
Christ your only remedy, is the greatest sin that ever you 
were guilty of against the Lord. This is the sin that binds 
the guilt of all your other sins upon you. Let me therefore 
address myself, 

(1.) To you whose consciences are alarmed with the 
hideous aggravations of your sins, by reason whereof your 
own misgiving hearts, assisted by the policy of Satan, dis- 
courage you from all attempts to gain Christ and pardon 
through repentance and faith. Let me hint three or four 
considerations to you, by way of encouragement. 



NONE REJECT B 211 

The sparing goodness of God gives encouragement that 
God may have a reserve of mercy for bo great a sinner 
thou art. O what a. mercy is it, that thy life has be 
spared hitherto. Many of thy companions in sin are beyond 
hope, while thou art Left. This is no sure sign of God 
cious intention to thee, unless his goodness and forbearance 
lead thee to repentance. Then the gracious intention of 
God in prolonging thy life would appear. But it is itself a 
great mercy, because without it no spiritual mercy could he; 
expected. 

It is matter of encouragement, that though your disease 
be drcaXful, it is not incurable. The text brings it within 
the compass of mercy ; bless God for those words, " If 
any man." 

As great sinners as you have been have found mercy , 
1 Tim. 1 : 16, and God would have it recorded for your 
encouragement. If the Lord shall make thy heart break 
and thy will bow, whatever thy sins have been they shall 
not bar thee from forgiveness. But if thou resolve to go on 
in sin, or sit down discouraged, and wilt not come at the 
invitation of Christ, then thy wound is incurable indeed, 
and thy sentence has already passed upon thee for hell. 
"The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God." 
1 Cor. 6:9. God forbid that this should be the issue of 
Christ's gracious invitations to thee, and forbearance of thee. 
Seeing mercy is tendered to any man that will accept it 
on Christ's terms, exclude not thyself. 

(2.) I will now address this exhortation to persons who 
are not of the notorious rank of profane sinners, but whose 
lives have been drawn more smoothly through a course of 
morality. These have as great need to be pressed to repent- 
ance and faith as the most notorious sinners in the world. 
They are a generation that bless themselves in their own 
eyes, and thank God with the Pharisee that they are " not 
as other men." Luke 18 : 11. They acknowledge conver- 



212 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

sion to be the duty of the profane, and that such sinners 
stand in need of it. But as for themselves, they scarcely 
know where to find matter for repentance, nor do they feel 
any need of Christ. Now, I would lay three considerations 
before such persons, to convince them that their case is is 
sad and hazardous, yea, in some respects, more hazardous 
than the state of the most notorious sinners ; and that a 
change must also pass upon them, or else it had been good 
for them that they had never been born. 

Consideration 1. Let the moral part of the world lay 
this thought to their hearts, that though their sins, are net 
so gross to appearance as other men's are, yet, continued in, 
they will 'prove as destructive as the greater abominations 
of other men. No sin, absolutely considered, is small. 
Every sin is damning without Christ. " The wages of sin 
is death." Rom. 6 : 23. It is no great difference, if a man 
be killed, whether it be by a sword or a penknife. The 
least sin violates the whole law. He that offendeth in one 
point, is guilty of all. James 2:10. The least transgres- 
sion of the law pulls down its curse upon the sinner's head. 
And this is your misery, that you are out of Christ and 
stand under the terms of the first covenant. Moreover, the 
law of God is violated not only externally, but internally. 
Thus, every unchaste thought is adultery, and the inward 
burning of malice and anger in the heart is murder. Now, 
if the Lord shall bring the spiritual sense of the law home 
to your consciences as he did to Paul's, Rom. 7:9, you will 
certainly give up the plea, that you have not so much need 
of conversion as other sinners have. There are sins of 
greater infamy, and sins of deeper guilt. There may be 
more guilt in sins that are stifled in thy heart, and never 
defamed thee, than in some others that are seen by the 
world. 

Consideration 2. You are guilty of one sin more hei- 
nous than any outward act, that is, your trusting o yov* 



j*o:> 213 

righteousness as the Pharisees did, " He spake thii 
parable unto certain which trusted in themselves thai they 
were righteous, and despised others." Luke L8 : 9. Here 
is an idol sot up in the room of Christ. It is true, t! 
makes not so loiul a noise as the sins of profane persons do, 
but it is as abominable in the eyes of God, as the ^ins that 
are most offensive among men. Moral persons, thus trust- 
big to their own morality, ami neglecting Jesus Christ, will 
be found ultimately among those who have " a portion with 
unbelievers." Luke 12:46. 

Consideration 3. It has been always found a more 
fit thing to convince and bring to Christ the moved 
part of tlie world, than to convince the profane part of it. 
" Publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before 
you." Matt. 21 :31. Publicans were reckoned the vilest 
of men, and harlots the worst of women ; yet either of these 
were more readily brought to Christ than self-righteous 
Pharisees. Aw r ay then with your idle pretensions that you 
are safer and better than others. By wdiat has been said, 
it appears that you stand in as much need of Christ as 
the most infamous sinners in the world do. 

This doctrine presents great encouragement to every 
obedient soul whom the Lord shall persuade to comply with 
the call of the gospel, whatever his former rebellions have 
been. There are some whose hearts the Lord has touched 
with a sense of their sin and misery, and of the all-sufficient 
remedy in Christ, but the sense of former rebellions appalls 
them; they cannot hope for acceptance with him. Here 
is good news for such souls ; Christ is at the door, and for- 
mer rebellions are no bar to him, provided there is now a 
hearty compliance with his invitation, " I will come in to 
him." A glorious promise, comprising five inestimable 
benefits. 

(1.) This is the most glorious work of God that can be 



214 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE BOOR. 

wrought upon the heart of a sinner, to open it by repent- 
ance and faith, and put Christ in full possession of it 
The power of all the angels in heaven, ministers on earth, 
duties, and ordinances cannot effect this ; this is the pecu 
liar work of God. " Of him are ye in Christ Jesus." 1 
Cor, 1 .30. As it was the marvellous work of God to 
unite our nature unto Christ, so it is no less a marvellous 
work of God to unite our persons to Christ, to prepare the 
soul as a habitation for Christ, and give him the possession 
of it. 

(2.) This coming of Christ into the soul is the very 
foundation of all our hopes for glory ; until this be done, we 
are without hope. But in the same hour when Christ comes 
into the soul, a solid foundation of the hope of glory is laid 
in that soul, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 
Col. 1 : 27. I know the unregenerate world is full of hope, 
but their hopes are built upon the sand. Union with Christ 
is the firm foundation on which the hopes of heaven are 
laid. 

(3.) "I will come in to him ;" that is, to dwell in his 
soul for ever, never to leave him more ; therefore he is said 
to dwell in our hearts by faith, Eph. 3 : 17 — not sojourn for 
a night, but abide there for ever. Nothing can separate 
Christ and that soul Rom. 8 : 35. Thy soul shall never 
be a habitation for Satan again. When Christ comes in, he 
saith, as of the temple, M This is my rest for ever : here will 
I dwell." Psalm 132 : 14. 

(4.) This coming in of Christ entitles the soul to all 
spiritual privileges : " He that hath the Son, hath life," 
1 John, 5:12; and, "All are yours, and ye are Christ's." 
1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23. 

(o.) This is the highest honor that ever God put upon 
a creature, " I will come in to him." how should the 
soul feel itself advanced by such an honor as this. What, 
to be the living temple of Jesus Christ, for him to dwell and 



NONE REJECTED. 213 

walk in thy soul! 2 Cor. G:1G. I tell you, this is an 
honor beyond and above the lienor done to Bllgels. 

And how near art thou to all these blessed privileges in 
the day that thy heart is wounded for sin? Thy thoughts 
become solicitous about union with Christ, and thy will 
begins to yield after a serious examination of the terms of 
the gospel in thy most solemn thoughts. God forbid any 
thing should now hinder the completing of so great a 
work. 



21G CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

NONE RECEIVE CHRIST UNTIL HIS SPIRITUAL 
QUICKENING VOICE IS HEARD. 

"IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL 
COME IN TO HIM." Rev. 3 : 20. 

In the former chapters, Christ's general invitation to 
sinners has been considered : we are now to consider the 
principal instrument by which the heart of a sinner is 
opened to receive Christ ; and that is not by the power 
of his own will, nor merely by the efficacy of the gospel 
preached, but by the voice of Jesus Christ, which opens the 
will, and makes the persuasions of the gospel effectual. "If 
any man hear my voice." 

Hearing is either external or internal ; for the soul has 
its ear as well as the body. " He that hath an ear, let him 
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches," Rev. 2:17; 
that is, he that hath a spiritual ear, by which to perceive 
and judge the voice of the Spirit. It is a sore judgment 
when God denies such an ear to the soul. " Go and tell 
this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not." Isa. 6:9. 
Spiritual hearing is the work of the inner man. And though 
we have many auditors, yet, in this sense, we have no more 
hearers than believers. "Words of sense in Scripture describe 
affections. This hearing of Christ's voice implies not only 
the receiving the sound of the gospel into the external organ, 
but the work of the understanding, which by the ear trieth 
words as the mouth tasteth meat, Job 12:11; and the 
work of the affections, which receive the truth in love. 
2 Thess. 2 : 10. It also implies the obedience of the soul 
to what we hear. We cannot be said, in this sense, to hear 
what we obey not. Our minds may be delighted with the 
pleasant melody of the gospel, and yet it is as if we heard 
it not, when obedience does not follow hearing. " Thou art 



HIS VOICE HEARD. 217 

unto tliem as a very Lovely Bongofone that hath a pleasant 

voice, and can play well on an instrument J fur they heal- 
thy words, but they do them not." Ezek. 33 : 32. But in 
this place it signifies the vital sound of Christ's efficati 
voice, which is the principle of spiritual life to the souls of 
dead sinners; according to his expression, "Verily, verily, 
I sa} unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when th'j 
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that 
hear shall live." John 5 : 25. 

From hence the eighth doctrine will be, 

No man's will savingly and effectually opens to receive 
Christ until the spiritual and quickening voice of Christ 
be heard by the soul. 

Now, concerning this almighty spiritual voice of Christ, 
by which the hearts of sinners are effectually opened, six 
things must be explained in order : the divers sorts and 
kinds of Christ's voices ; the general nature of this internal 
voice ; the innate characters and special properties of it ; 
the objects to whom it is directed ; the motives inducing 
Christ to speak to one, and not to another ; and the special 
effects wrought and sealed by it upon every soul that 
hears it. 

I. We will speak of the divers sorts and kinds of 
Christ's voices. 

1. There is an external voice of Christ, which, we may 
call his voice in the preaching of the gospel. The Scrip- 
tures are his word, and ministers his mouth. Jer. 15 : 19, 
lie that heareth them, heareth Christ. 

2. There is also an internal voice of Christ, consisting 
nut in sound, but in power ; and between these there are two 
rsmarkable differences. First, the external or ministerial 
voice of Christ is but the organ or instrument of conveying 
his internal and efficacious voice to the soul : in the former 
he speaks to the ear, and by that sound conveys his spiritual 

Christ Knocking. 10 



218 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR, 

voice to the heart. Second, the external voice is ineffect- 
ual when it is not animated by the internal spiritual voice 
It was marvellous to see the walls of Jericho falling to the 
ground at .the sound of ram's horns, Josh. 6 : 20 ; there 
was certainly more than the force of an external blast to 
produce such an effect : but more marvellous it is, to see at 
the sound of the gospel not only the weapons of iniquity 
falling out of sinners' hands, but the very enmity itself out 
of their hearts. Here you see is a voice in a voice, an 
internal efficacy in the external sound, without which the 
gospel makes no saving impression. 

II. Tins spiritual voice of Christ must be considered in 
its general nature, which implies, 

1. Almighty efficacy, to quicken and open the hefcrt 
with a word. what maimer of voice is this, which car- 
ries such a vital power with it ! In all the mighty works 
of Christ, his power was put forth in some voice, as at the 
resurrection of Lazarus. {; He cried with a loud voice, 
Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth." 
John 1 1 : 43, 44. So in curing the deaf man, Mark 7 : 34, 
" He saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened ; and 
straightway his ears were opened." Thus, in exerting his 
almighty power in quickening a soul spiritually dead, and 
opening the heart locked up by ignorance and unbelief, an 
internal almighty efficacy passes from Christ, along with 
the voice of the gospel, to effect this glorious work upon 
the soul ; an emblem of which we have in Ezek. 37 : 9, 10 : 
" Then said lie unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, 
son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; 
Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe upon 
t'.iese slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he 
commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they 
lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great 
army." The animating vital breath which quickened the 
dead came with the four winds of heaven, as this almighty 



II IS VOICE II Si IM'. 

power of Christ does with the sound of the gospel; and 
before it the hearl opens, and the will bows. Psalm L 10 : 3. 
Man can no longer oppose (io<l; the power of man 
repel thai of a fellow-creal ure, bu1 w hen the power of I 
comes with the voice of man, there is no more power to 
resist. This voice of Christ, of which the text speaks, is 
an impression made on the .--» ; il of a Binner Grom heaven, 
which is to that soul instead of a voice, and as hilly e 
sive of God's mind concerning it as any articulate voic 
be. It is a beam of light shining immediately from the 
Spirit into the soul of a sinner, as plainly revealing both its 
danger and duty as if a voice from heaven had declared 
them. Thus it is said, Isa. 8:11, the Lord spake to Isaiah 
with a strong hand, that is, by a mighty impression upon 
his spirit, which was as a voice to him. Thus the Lord 
not only directs a suitable w r ord to a sinner's condition, but 
impresses it with such a strong hand upon his heart, as 
leaves no doubt but that it was the Lord himself that spoke 
to his soul. This is Christ's way of speaking by his Spirit 
to the ear of the soul : not by audible voices, which I take 
to be but the imaginings of an overtroubled fancy, but by 
an efficacious impression upon the heart. In audible voices 
we may sooner meet satanical delusions than divine illu- 
minations. The learned Gerson speaks of a good man who, 
being in prayer, seemed to hear such a voice as this : u 1 
am come in person to visit thee, for thou art worthy." But 
he justly suspecting a delusion .of Satan, shut his eyes and 
said, " I will not see Christ here, it shall suffice me to see 
him in glory." Christ's voice in the written word is more 
sure than a voice from heaven. 2 Pet. 1:19. This spir- 
itual impression is Christ's effectual call from heaven, and 
is a voice without sound or syllable. 

2. As this voice of Christ implies almighty efficacy, so 
it implies, in like manner, the facility of conversion unto 
Christ : he can do it easily with a word of his mouth, as 



220 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

in the bodily cures performed by him in the days of his 
flesh ; how suddenly and easily did he effect them. " Speak 
the word only," said the centurion, " and my servant shall 
be healed." Thus, let the Spirit but speak to the dead soul 
and it lives. Elijah did but cast his mantle on Elisha, as 
he was ploughing in the field, and he entreated the prophet 
to give him leave to go home and bid his friends farewell, 
and he would follow him. Thus it is here : let a beam cf 
saving light shine from the Spirit into a man's heart ; let 
an effectual impression be made upon his soul, and he is at 
once made willing to quit and give up his dearest lusts and 
interests, and to embrace Christ upon the terms of the gos- 
pel. Conversion is too difficult a work for angels or men 
to effect, but Christ can do it with a word. 

III. I shall endeavor to show the special properties 
of this spiritual voice of Christ, which must be heard, or 
there can be no opening the door of the heart to receive 
him. 

1. It is a secret and still voice, whereby somewhat is 
communicated to the soul, making a particular application 
of what is spoken to the ear, much like that of Nathan to 
David, "Thou art the man." 2 Sam. 12 : 7. This still 
voice sounds through the whole soul, yet none hear it but 
the soul concerned in it. It is said, " The Lord had told 
Samuel in Iris ear, a day before," 1 Sam. 9:15, that is, he 
whispered the secret into the prophet's mind. So the Spirit 
of Christ whispers a word into the ear of a sinner, which 
makes his heart tremble, after this manner : " This is thy 
very condition ; this is thy sin, which is now opened by the 
gospel in thine ears." This is a voice without sound to 
others, but very intelligible to the soul to whom it is spoken. 
You read in 1 Kings, 19 : 11, 12, that when Elijah stood 
upon the mount before the Lord, " a great and strong wind 
rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the 
Lord ; but the Lord was not in the wind : and after the 



wind an earthquake; but the Lord waa not in the earth- 
quake: ami after the earthquake a Sre; bu1 the Lord waa 
not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And 
it was bo, when Elijah heard it, thai he wrapped hie 

in his mantle." So it is here: dreadful thing! are thun 
flered against men by the yoice of the law; the terro 

the Lord are made known, hell is set before the eyes of - 
ners ; bnt until the Lord come in the still voice of his Spirit, 
and apply these things to the conscience, the sinner never 
covers his face with shame and confusion, nor goes aside to 
mourn and lament his misery. This voice of God sounds 
to the very centre of the soul. As for the outward voice o* 
the gospel alone, it signifies little ; in hearing, men hear not 
Matt. 13 : 13. They hear the voice of man, but not the* 
voice of God ; they hear the sound, but feel not the power 
of the word. What is spoken externally dies in the ear that 
hears it, but this still voice of the Spirit makes its way to 
the heart, and none knows wdiat God speaks but the soul 
itself. 

2. The spiritual voice of Christ is 'personal, speaking 
distinctly and particularly to the state of the soul, as if by 
name. Ministers must speak in general ; they draw the 
bow of the gospel at a venture, not knowing to whom God 
will direct the arrow ; but the Spirit guides it to the mark. 
He applies truth to particular persons, so that the soul to 
whom he directs it is fully convinced that the Lord intends 
and means him, in such a threatening expression. Oh, says 
the soul, has the Lord singled me out in particular ? this is my 
very case. You read that Christ calleth his sheep by name. 
John 10 : 3. How does he do this, but by speaking directly 
and particularly to their condition, as if he called them by 
their particular names ? He does not now in an extraordinary 
way, as of old, call, "Samuel, Samuel," or, " Saul, Saul," but 
he sends a beam of convincing light into the conscience, 
plainly showing this or that to be our sin, danger, or duty ; 



222 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

and as to the effect, it is all one as if God named him. And 
truly, until it comes to this the word has no saving operation 
upon the soul. A man may hear ten thousand general truths 
and assent to them, and yet be no better for them. How 
quiet was David's conscience, until Nathan struck the naij 
upon the head by a home personal application, and then his 
conscience startled. Thus God singles out one from a 
thousand in the congregation, speaks to the heart, and dis- 
turbs the secure conscience : the rest hear the same words, 
but feel not the same efficacy. And truly it is a choice 
mercy when God pleases thus to single out one person after 
this manner, to speak to his heart. As Christ said, in Luke 
4 : 25, 26, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, 
but to none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a 
city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. So here, 
multitudes sat with you under the same prayer or sermon, 
but to none of them, at that time, was the Spirit sent to 
make a particular application thereof, but to thee. In this 
the peculiar goodness of God shines out, and should for ever 
be admired by that soul. 

3. This spiritual voice of Christ is distinguishable by 
the soul that hears it from all other voices The sheep 
know his voice. John 10 : 4. As in the style of the Scrip- 
tures there is a weight and majesty which distinguish them 
from all human compositions, so in this voice of Christ there 
is a peculiar efficacy, a divine authority, by which the soul 
distinguishes it from all human voices. It was said of Christ 
in the days of his flesh, " Never man spake like this man." 
John 7 : 46. The same may be said of his spiritual voice: 
the soul never heard such a voice before ; it seals the truth 
upon the heart so firmly that no objections are left against 
it. 

There are two things in this inward voice of Christ, 
which distinguish it from all human voices. First, a mar- 
vellous light comes into the soul with it, which discovers 



HIS VOICE HEARD. 223 

alJ the secrets of the heart. God shines into the heart at 
the same time lie speaks to il, 2 Cor. 4 : 6 ; and now the 
secrets of the heart are manifest, and God is acknowled: 
to be in the word of truth. 1 Cor. 14 :25. Second, a mar- 
vellous power accompanies this voice, to make a deep and 
firm impression of what is spoken on the soul ; and this 
power is a character of the voice of God, whereby the soul 
receives it as his, with much assurance, as the apostle speaks 
in 1 Thess. 1:5: " Our gospel came not unto you in word 
only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much 
assurance." They could not be more certain of any thing, 
than they were that it was the Lord who spoke to them in 
that word. It is true, at the first instant the soul may be 
amazed and at a loss, as Peter, when he was delivered out 
of prison, thought at first he had seen a vision ; but when 
he was come to himself, he said, " Now, I know of a surety 
that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me." 
Acts 12 : 11. Thus it is with the soul : it is amazed, and 
doubts what manner of call or power this is ; it never heard 
such a voice, nor felt any thing like this before. But the 
matter is quickly cleared up when the soul has reflected 
upon it, and finds such a wonderful change of the temper 
of the heart following upon it. I now speak not of those 
into whom grace is distilled in the way of godly education 
in their tender years, but of adult persons, and especially 
such as have been gross sinners. 

4. This spiritual voice of Christ is a surprising voice, 
altogether unexpected by the soul that hears it : "I am 
found of them that sought me not." Isa. 65 : 1 . Little do we 
foresee the designs God has in bringing us to such a place, 
and under such a sermon, at such a time ; even as little as 
Saul thought of a kingdom when he was seeking his father's 
asses. It is much with us as it was with the apostles when 
Christ called them : little did Matthew think when he sat 
at the receipt of customs, or Saul when hasting to Damas- 



224 (JURIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

cus upon the devil's errand, that Christ and salvation were 
so near them. Some have come to deride the messengers 
and truths of God ; others to gratify their curiosity ; and 
many not knowing where else, with peace or reputation, to 
spend that hour. But God's thoughts were not theirs ; the 
time of mercy was now come, and whatever sinful ends 
brought them thither, the Lord's design was then and there 
to manifest himself to them. It is with such souls, in some 
respects, as it was with the spouse, Sol. Song, 6 : 12: "Or 
ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of 
Ammi-nadib." I went to the congregation for company ; I 
was sitting under the word with a careless wandering heart, 
as at other times ; when lo, an arrow of conviction was 
suddenly shot into my conscience, which so wounded and 
disquieted it, that it is now beyond the power of any but 
Christ to settle and satisfy it. 

5. This spiritual internal voice of Christ is energetical ; 
mighty in power, piercing the heart, cleaving, as it were, 
the very reins ; full of efficacy to the soul that hears it. 
The power of God comes along with his voice. " The word 
of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two- 
edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul 
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow." Heb. 4:12. 

Now this efficacy is not inherent in the word itself, or 
all would feel this power who come within the sound of it. 
No, this comes from the Spirit of Christ, speaking in it to 
the sinner's conscience ; when it is the administration of 
the Spirit, it becomes efficacious. You read, in Psalm 
29 : 4-9, of the wonderful efficacy of God's voice : The 
voice of the Lord is powerful ; the voice of the Lord is ful] 
of majesty ; it breaketh the cedars, divideth the flames of 
fi:3, shaketh the wilderness, maketh the hinds to calve 
This the providential voice of God, in the winds, thunders, 
and lightnings, can do ; but what is this to the efficacy of 
his spiritual voice ? What is the breaking of the cedar* of 



HIS VOICE HEARD. 2.^1 

Lebanon to the breaking of the heart of a sinner ? What is 
the shaking of the trees in the wilderness to the fears ol 

wrath to come, which shake the souls of convinced si 

and make their hearts tremble? Acta 16:29, What is 
the dividing of Barnes of lire, to the dividing a bou] from its 
beloved lusts? "The weapons of our warfare are qoI car- 
nal, but mighty through God, to the pulling clown of strong 
holds, easting down imaginations, and every high thing that 
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing 
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 
2 Cor. 10:4, 5. Here are the glorious effects of this voice, 
which plainly show from whom it comes. The voice of 
God is no less to be admired in its effects in the new crea- 
■ tion, than in the first creation, with which the apostle com- 
pares it. " God, who commanded the light to shine out of 
darkness, hath shined in our hearts." 2 Cor. 4:6. It was 
marvellous to see, at the word of Christ, Lazarus, who was 
dead in his grave, come forth bound in his grave-clothes, 
John 11 : 44 ; and no less to see a soul dead in sin, at a word 
of Christ, come forth with -spiritual life. "The dead shall 
hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear shall 
live." John 5 : 25. 

6. This spiritual voice of Christ is convictive to the 
conscience of a sinner, so that it puts a final end to all 
evasions. While man only spoke, the soul had a thousand 
means to evade what was spoken ; but now all debate? 
are at an end — no more subterfuges and cunning evasions 
now. The Spirit, when he cometh, shall convince the 
world of sin. John 16:8. The word signifies to convince 
by demonstration, and to show that a thing cannot possibly 
be otherwise than we represent it to be. Formerly, when 
the terrors of God were threatened against sin, the heart 
was wont to say, This concerns me no more than another ; 
if it go ill with me, it will go ill with thousands as well as 
me. It is true, this is my evil ; and who is without sin ? I 

10* 



226 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOUK. 

have some evils in. me. but I have some good too. But no 
sooner does the Spirit speak conviction to the conscience, 
than all these pleas are dismissed. It may be, the state of 
the sinner's soul was doubtful to him before ; but it is not 
so now. It had some fears of hell, but they were balanced 
with some vain hopes of heaven ; but now the great ques- 
tion is determined. "Whatever I am or have, whatever 
duties I have done, and whatever sins I have avoided, I see 
I am not regenerated, I am in my natural, Christless state ; 
and except I am changed. I must be lost. This was the 
effect of Christ's voice to Paul : " I was alive without the 
law once ; but when the commandment came, sin revived, 
and I died." Rom. 7:9. He had read the law many a 
time, and had the literal knowledge of it ; but his vain 
hopes lived and flourished, until the spiritual sense of the 
law came home to his heart by the voice of the Spirit, and 
then his vain hopes died, and his guilt stared in the face of 
Iris conscience. 

7. The voice of Christ is generally conveyed to the souls 
of men through the word preached, which is the chosen 
instrument of its conveyance. We cannot affirm that Christ 
always speaks to men in this way ; but certainly this is his 
ordinary course: "Our gospel came not unto you in word 
only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost." 1 Thess. 
1 : o. Our gospel, because preached by us ; but had that 
been all, it had come to you in word only, as it does to many 
thousands of others, who feel nothing in it more than what 
is human. But unto you it came in power and in the Holy 
Ghost ; that is, our words were the vehicle through which 
the vital power of the Spirit was conveyed into your souls. 
Providences have their voice as well as the word ; and somo 
times the voice of Christ has accompanied the voice of provi- 
dence, to the conversion of men's souls ; but this is unusual. 
The established way of Christ's speaking to the hearts of sin- 
ners is by the word, and especially the word preached, which 






HIS VOJ I B D. :j'J7 

on that account is called "the power of God unto solva- 
tion." Rom. 1 : 1G. This instrument the Lord generally hon- 
ors for the conveyance of spiritual Life into the souls of men, 

though it is despised and contemned in the world. "The 
pleaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness ; 
but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God," 
1 Cor. 1:18; that is, the instrument by which the saving 
power of God communicates itself to the souls of men. And 
although God may exert his saving power through provi- 
dences, we seldom find he does so where the word may be 
had, but is neglected. Herein God consults our peace and 
satisfaction ; for if he should make use of another medium, 
as a voice from heaven, and after calling, which is an usual 
case, the called soul should question, How do I know but all 
this may be a delusion ? may not Satan impose upon mor- 
tals, and this voice be a counterfeit ? my eternal estate 
depends upon it, and I need to be sure it was the voice of 
God himself: in such a case, it would be hard to give such 
distinguishing characters as might be to the satisfaction 
of the souL But when God makes the word his instrument 
in this matter, it yields abundantly more satisfaction. We 
have a more sure word of prophecy, surer than a voice from 
heaven. 2 Pet. 1 : 19. And though Paul was converted by 
a voice from heaven, yet the Lord sends him to Ananias, 
who should preach the gospel to him. Acts 9 : 17. The 
Lord will honor his word. Providence may prepare the 
heart, but the word is the instrument by which the Lord 
ordinarily puts forth his power to salvation. 

8. The voice of Christ leaves abiding effects on the soul 
that hears it. The words of men are scattered to the wind, 
but the effects of Christ's voice are durable : "I will never 
forget thy precepts ; for with them thou hast quickened 
me." Psa. 119: 93. How many hundred sermons have 
we heard, and all vanished away as a dream ! Oh, but it 
ever thou heardst Christ speaking to thy heart in any ser- 



228 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

mon or prayer, that will remain with thee for ever. His . 
words are sealed upon the soul for ever ; they are w r ritten in 
the heart. Jer. 31 : 33. What Job wished concerning his 
worl, is really performed in the words of Christ : " They 
are written as in the rock for ever." Job 19 : 23. We 
have slippery memories, but the weakest memory must 
retain the words ef Christ, spoken to the heait by his Spirit • 
for " He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruc- 
tion." Job 33 : 16. 

IY. I shall next speak of the person to whom Christ 
ordinarily directs his efficacious and saving voice. And 
though it be true that the Spirit of Christ is a free agent, 
and calls w T hom he will, according to John 3 : 8, " The 
wind bloweth where it listeth ;" and it is true, in fact, 
that Christ has made some of all ranks of men to hear his 
voice ; it is seldom that he directs this saving voice to the 
great and wise of this world : " Ye see your calling, breth- 
ren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many 
mighty, not many noble are called." 1 Cor. 1 : 26. He 
saith not any, but many. Christ does call some, " lest," as 
one says, "the world should think that Christians were 
deceived through their simplicity and weakness." One rich 
Joseph of Arimathea ; one honorable Nicodemus, but not 
many. Men of the greatest renown in the world have been 
the fiercest enemies against Christ : Galen, the chief physi- 
cian; Porphyry, the chief Aristotelian; Plotinus, the chief 
Platonist ; Libanius and Lucian, the chief orators, were * 
all professed enemies of Christ. Two things make a man 
great in the eyes of the world : the external endowments of 
Providence, heaping riches and honors upon him ; and 
endowments of the mind, as strong reason, sharpness of wit, 
etc. When both these meet in the same person, they make 
him great in the eyes of the world, and usually in his own ; 
yea, too great to stoop to the simplicity of the gospel, and its 
humbling, self-denying terms. These the Lord usually 



HIS VOICE HEARD. 

passes by, and directs his voice to the poor; the pool 
receive the gospel ; God hath chosen the poor of this world 
rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom. James 2 : 5. And 
this choice of Sod Christ blesses him for: "I thank thee, 

Father, Lord of heaven and earth, ! hou hast hid 

these things from the vise and prudent, and hast revealed 

them unto babes ; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in 
thy sight." Matt. 1 1 : 25, 2G. And indeed, the wisdom oi 

God deserves our admiration in this dispensation : For 

1. Hereby the frceness of Ids grace is vindicated 
None can pretend that any earthly excellence commends any 
man to God, or that the favor of heaven is secured by the 
same means that the respects of the world are. For you 
see the truth of that scripture before your eyes, Job 34:19 : 
He " accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the 
rich more than the poor ; for they are all the work of his 
hands." Earthly riches and honors, empty as they are, are 
yet much idolized by men : what would they be, could they 
procure our favor and acceptance with the Lord ? 

2. By such a choice as this, the Lord plainly shows that 
religioji needs not worldly props to support it. As at first 
it was spread by the power of God in the world, by poor and 
despised men, so it is still upheld without human policy or 
riches. The church is called the congregation of the poor. 
Psa. 74 : 19. The Lord will have us know, that he is able 
to maintain and carry on his counsels in the world without 
the wealth of rich men, the authority of great men, or the 
policies of wise men ; he needs them not. 

3. By this choice he pours contempt upon the things 
most admired among men. So he tells us: "God hath 
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise ; 
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to con- 
found the things which are mighty." 1 Cor. 1 : 27. And 
certainly, shame and confusion of face will cover the great 
ones of this world, when they shall see the poor Christians 



230 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

whom they scorned on earth, as not worthy to come into 
their presence, so infinitely preferred before them in the 
favor of God. In a word, this efficacious spiritual voice 
of Christ is directed but to a few, even of the many that 
sit within the call of the gospel : "Many are called, but few 
are chosen." Matt. 22 : 14. Christ's flock is a little flock. 
There are many birds of prey to one bird of paradise — 
many common pebbles to one sapphire or diamond. It is 
not for us to dispute as to the reason, but to adore the sove- 
reignty of God in this matter. And of those few whom he 
calls, the greatest part is of the humbler classes of men. 
The glitter and dazzle of this world blind the eyes of the 
greatest ; extremity of want diverts the mind of the lowest ; 
but between these two extremes there is a third sort of 
persons whom the Lord most usually calls. 

V. If it be inquired why the voice and call of Christ 

SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THIS PERSON RATHER THAN TO THAT 

certainly it is not from any excellence that Christ sees in 
one rather than another ; for all are shut up under the com- 
mon sin and misery of the fall ; and therefore the apostle 
told the Ephesians, who had heard and answered the voice 
of Christ, that they "were by nature the children of wrath, 
even as others." Eph. 2 : 3. If it were not so, man would 
have something to glory in before God ; but Christ resolves 
this whole dispensation into its proper cause, the good pleas- 
ure of the divine will: "Even so, Father, for so it seemed 
good in thy sight." Matt. 11 : 26. This good pleasure of 
the will of God sometimes causes those to hear the voice 
of his Son who seem to stand at a far greater distance and 
improbability to hear it than others do. It is said of the 
Ephesians, that they were far off, Eph. 2:13; yet they 
heard the voice of Christ when that discreet scribe who 
was not far from the kingdom of God, Mark 12 : 34, and 
Agrippa, who was almost persuaded to be a Christian, 
Acts 26 : 28, never heard it ; therefore it is said, " Many 



HIS \0\c\z HEARD. 231 

shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with 
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven ; 
but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer 
darkness." Matt. 8:11, 12. marvellous dispensation! 

many a soul under the greatest disadvantages, a poor 
who has but little time and many incumbrances, is called 
effectually by this voice of Christ; when those who enjoy 
multitudes of opportunities, and have abundance of time on 
their hands which they know not what to do with, and who 
have the choicest books at command, amidst all these ad- 
vantages hear and feel nothing to any purpose : all this is to 
be resolved into the good pleasure of the will of God. 

VI. Let us now view the effects of this voice of 
Christ upon the souls of men, and we shall find divers 
remarkable effects wrought upon the heart by it. 

1. The first effect of the voice of Christ is conviction 
on the conscience — conviction both of sin and misery. John 
16:8. The Spirit when he cometh shall convince the 
world of sin. This is a voice of terror, and strikes dead the 
vain hopes of a sinner. Horn. 7:9. The soul that was 
before secure becomes the seat of anxiety. There was a 
general conviction of sin before ; he knew that all are sin- 
ners, he denied not that. But alas, this general convic- 
tion is quite another thing from what the soul feels now ; 
now it can waive the matter no longer. This voice of 
Christ " showeth them their work and their trangressions, 
that they have exceeded," Job 36 : 9 — exceeded in number, 
and exceeded in heinousness of aggravation. A general 
conviction of sin affects a man no more than the sight of a 
painted lion on a sign-post ; but when a particular convic- 
tion is set home on the conscience by this special voice of 
Christ, sin is like a living lion, meeting a man in the way 
and roaring dreadfully upon him. This first effect of Christ's 
voice is introductory to, 

2. Humiliation and contrition of heart for sin. Those 



232 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

threats of Scripture against sin and sinners which were 
wont to be slighted, are now trembled at ; those Jews to 
whose hearts Christ spoke in Peter's sermon, as soon as they 
heard his voice sounding conviction in their consciences, 
were pricked at the heart, Acts 2 : 37 : no sword can make 
such a wound, and put a man into such pain, as a sight of 
sin will ; therefore they are said to mourn for Christ as for an 
only son. Zech. 12 : 10. Now this is the glorious prerog- 
ative of Jesus Christ, to reach and wound the heart with a 
word. The voice of man cannot do it ; but the spirit of a 
man lies open both to be wounded and healed by a word 
from the mouth of Christ. No sooner has a sinner heard 
the awful voice of conviction spoken to his conscience by the 
Lord Jesus, but he feels himself sick at heart ; he goes home 
from that sermon by which Christ spoke effectual conviction 
to him, crying, My soul is distressed because of sin. There 
is a great difference in the degrees of this contrition and 
humiliation ; it penetrates deeper into some hearts than 
others, and holds them longer under it ; but whoever has 
heard the convincing voice of Christ, feels so much sorrow 
for sin as for ever separates him from the love of it. 

3. This voice of Christ awakens the careless mind to 
solicitude for deliverance from the danger that hangs over 
it. Trembling and astonished, the jailer cried out, " Sirs, 
what must I do to be saved ?" Acts 16 : 29, 30. Ail the 
powers of the soul are engaged for deliverance. You gener- 
ally observe, in convinced and humbled sinners, three signs 
of extraordinary solicitude about salvation. First, there is 
a strong intentness of their minds and thoughts, they stand 
night and day like a bow at its full bent; their thoughts 
are ever poring upon this matter, their sleep departs, for their 
sin and danger are ever before them. Second, it appears by 
their searching inquisitiveness about the way of escape ; the 
question they carry with them wherever they meet with 
any whom they judge able to direct them is, What course 



HIS VOICE HEARD. 

shall I take? What shall I do? Ts there any hope for 
such a one as I? Did you ever Know a soul in my condi- 
tion? Third, it appears by the Little notice they take of 
their outward afflictions, which, it may be, are strong and 
sharp enough to overwhelm them at another time; hut 
now they take little notice of them. Sin lies so heavy 
that it makes heavy afflictions lie light. 

4. A fourth effect of the voice of Christ is encourage- 
ment and hope, putting- the soul on the use of means in 
order to the attainment of Christ and salvation ; for it is an 
inviting as well as a convicting voice : and this is a remark- 
able difference between the voice of Christ and the voice of 
Satan, with respect to sin. Satan labors to cut off all hope 
and strike the soul dead under despair of mercy ; well 
knowing, that if he can cut off hope, all endeavors of the 
soul after Christ are effectually stopped. But how much 
terror soever there may be in the voice of Christ, there is 
always something left behind it on the heart to breed and 
support hope. And truly the soul, amidst these sad circum- 
stances, has great need of some encouragement ; but the 
Lord usually, after sharp convictions, sets home upon the 
soul such a word as this : " Him that cometh to me I will 
in no wise cast out : for I came down from heaven, not to 
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 
6 : 37, 38. Here Christ offers the most rational satisfac- 
tion, and greatest encouragement that a convinced sinner, if 
he be willing, shall certainly find a hearty welcome with 
Christ. For mark how he argues it on purpose for the sat- 
isfaction of such souls : "I came down from heaven, not to 
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." The 
force of the encouragement lies here, " I and my Father are 
one," John 10 : 30 — one hi will and one in design ; our wills 
never can jar one with the other, on account of the perfect 
unity that is between us. Now, saith he, I came down from 
heaven, not only to do mine own will, which must necessarily 



2o4 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR 

be supposed to be strongly inclined to receive and save all 
convinced and willing sinners, this being the very end of 
my incarnation and death, but also to do the will of my 
Father, who hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted 
and anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. Isa, 
61 : 1. And therefore no such soul can rationally doubt 
of a welcome reception with me. And because the fears 
of a convinced conscience are great and many, and Satan 
seeks to aggravate them beyond the hope of mercy, it is 
usual with the Lord to direct the trembling sinner to such 
a scripture as that in Heb. 7 : 25, " Wherefore he is able 
also to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by 
him ;" making the fulness of Christ's saving power shine 
with a cheerful beam into the dark and distressed soul of a 
sinner, from such a word as that. 

5. A fifth effect of Christ's powerful voice is an attrac- 
tive efficacy or siueet alluring of the soul to Christ by that 
power which it communicates to the soul. " No man can 
come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw 
him." " Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath 
learned of the Father, cometh unto me." John 6 : 44, 45. 
Mark it, this voice speedily puts the soul into motion after 
Christ ; coming follows hearing : when once the soul has 
heard the voice of God, away it comes from all sinful en- 
gagements in the world ; all ties between the soul and sin 
break asunder- and give way ; nothing can hold it from 
Christ. There is a strange restlessness in the spirit of man, 
and none but Christ can quiet it. 

6. And then the effect of Christ's voice is rest and con- 
solation to the inner man. When once the soul is come 
home to Christ by the efficacy of his heavenly call or voice, 
it enters into peace. " We which have believed, do enter 
into rest," Heb. 4 : 3 — not only shall, but do enter into rest. 
As the first effect of Christ's voice was terror to the soul, so 
the last effect is peace ; it puts the soul into the most excel- 



II IS VOICE ttEARD. 

lent position for COmforl and joy; it never stood upon such 
ground before ; for this vocation stands between predestina- 
tion and glorification : " Moreover, whom he did j 

nate, them be also called; and whom he called, them he 
also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glori- 
fied." Rom. 8 : 30. See here into what a blessed mount 
of vision the voice of Christ calls the souls of sine 
Let the sonl look backward or forward from eternity to 
eternity, there is nothing but a vision of peace before its 
eyes. This call of God points backward to God's eternal 
choice, which by this very call it is now manifest he made 
of that soul before the world was ; and it points forward to 
that eternal glory unto which God is leading it. These are 
the effects of this almighty voice of Christ, and these the 
special instructions sealed by it upon the hearts of men. 

But this voice of Christ is not heard at all times, but in 
some special hour — as Christ calls it, " The hour when the 
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God." John 5 : 25. 
And elsewhere, by the apostle, it is called the accepted 
time, the day of salvation. 2 Cor. 6 : 2. The conjunction 
of the Spirit of Christ with the word, ordinances, or provi- 
dences of God, but especially the word, makes this blessed 
hour. The word alone, though never so well preached, 
conduces no more to the conviction and salvation of a sinner, 
than the waters of Bethesda did to healing when the angel 
came not down to trouble them. John 5 : 4. But when the 
Lord pours out his Spirit with the word, according to the 
promise, " I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make 
known my words unto you," Prov. 1 : 23, then Christ speaks 
to the heart ; this great conjunction of the word and Spirit 
makes that blessed season of salvation the time of love and 
of life. Now the voice of Christ is heard with effect, and 
the ordinances have a convincing and converting efficacy. 
There was an abundant effusion of the Spirit in the iirst 
age of Christianity, ami then the voice of Christ was heard 



236 CHUIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

by multitudes of souls at once. There has since been a 
restraint of the Spirit, comparatively speaking ; whereas 
three thousand souls were then converted at one sermon, 
possibly three thousand sermons have since been preached, 
and not one soul effectually called. This has made the 
church like a wilderness, a land of drought ; and so it is 
likely to remain, "until the Spirit be poured upon us from 
on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field," according 
to the promise, Isa. 32 : 15. And such a time we expect ; 
Lord, hasten it, when the waters of the ordinances shall be 
healed, and " every thing that liveth. which moveth whither- 
soever the river shall come, shall live. And fishers shall 
stand upon it, from En-gedi even unto En-eglaim ; they 
shall be a place to spread forth nets ; their fish shall be 
according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceed- 
ing many." Ezek. 47 : 9, 10. Then ministers shall no 
longer fish with angles, catching now one and then another ; 
but shall spread forth their nets and inclose multitudes of 
converts. * 

There are some happy seasons wherein Christ utters his 
almighty voice in the word, but their time is unknown to 
man ; we cannot say when it will come, but are to wait for 
it as the man did at the pool of Bethesda. Ministers must 
preach in hope, and wait in hope, if at any time God will 
give the people repentance. 2 Tim. 2 : 25. We are often 
mistaken in our conjectures : when we have made the best 
preparations, and have a more than ordinary enlargement 
of spirit, we are apt to conclude this is the blessed hour 
wherein Christ will speak to the heart as we do to the ear ; 
but we often find ourselves mistaken ; yet we must wait in 
hope, and so must our people. Such a happy time may 
come, and when it doth it will be a day for ever to be remem- 
bered, because then the first actual application of Christ 
will be made to your souls ; without which all that the 
Father has done in election, and the^Son in his redemption 



II i E II BJ i, . 237 

Would be of no advantage to your souls. And therefore 70a 
■hall find that this work of the Spirit stands between th 
works, and makes them effectual to our salvation. 1 Pet. 

1 : 2. This is the hour upon which our eternal blessedness 
depends; it will becelebrated for ever in your praises, in the 

world to come. what, an influence has this hour to all 
eternity! The hearing of this voice of Christ opens the 

councils of heaven, and brings to light the eternal conn 
of God concerning you: "Knowing, brethren beloved, your 
election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word 
only, but also in pow r er, and in the Holy Ghost." 1 Thess. 
1 : 4, 5. This gives greater assurance of the eternal love of 
God to a man's soul, than the sweetest smile of providence 
or any voice from heaven could do. This is the day of our 
spiritual resurrection, John 5 : 25 — a greater and more glo- 
rious resurrection by far than that of your bodies at the last 
day ; so much greater, as the value of your souls is above that 
of your bodies : as also, because the blessedness of your bod- 
ily resurrection depends on this your spiritual resurrection 
by the voice of Christ. Dreadful will the voice of Christ 
be at the resurrection of your bodies, except you first hear 
this vital voice of Christ quickening your souls with spirit- 
ual life. To conclude, this is the great era from which you 
are to date all your spiritual mercies ; for as the Lord said 
unto the Jews, " From this day will 1 bless you," Hag. 
2:19; so saith the Lord to you, From this hour wherein you 
have heard and obeyed the voice of Christ, will I bless you 
for ever with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in him. 
Inference 1. This point presents us with abundant 
matter of lamentation over multitudes who sit under the 
sound of the gospel, yet, as Christ speaks of the Jews, John 
5 : 37, have not heard the voice of God at any time. The 
ministerial voice of Christ they hear daily ; but this effica- 
cious internal voice, which makes the ministerial voice the 
word of life and power, they have not heard. The gospel, 



238 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

to most of our hearers, is but an empty sound : this is a sad 
symptom. " If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are 
lost ; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds 
of them that believe not. , ' 2 Cor. 4 : 3, 4. This hiding of 
the gospel is not opposed to the external ministration of it, 
nor to the understanding of the true sense and meaning of 
the truths delivered by it ; but to that internal efficacy-which 
is here called hearing Christ's voice. Our hearers are gener- 
ally satisfied when they have heard a sermon, much more if 
they can remember something of it, though the Lord has 
not spoken one truth they have heard home to their hearts. 
This is a sad case, and God grant it be not that very judg- 
ment threatened, Isa. 6 : 9, " Hear ye indeed, but understand 
not ; and see ye indeed, but perceive not." Hearing the 
voice of man without feeling the power of God, is all one 
as if we heard not. Reflect upon this, you that are as un- 
concerned under the word as the seats you sit upon. God 
speaketh once, yea, twice, but man perceiveth it not. The 
eternal decrees and counsels of God are now executing upon 
the souls of men under the gospel. As many as are or- 
dained to eternal life shall believe and feel the power of 
God's truth upon their hearts. Acts 13 : 48. And methinks 
it should be of startling consideration, when you see others 
struck to the heart, cast into fear and tremblings by the 
same word that does not in the least touch your hearts. It 
may be you think this is but fancy and melancholy, but 
that very thought is an artifice of Satan to blind your eyes. 
Christ made another use of it when he told the secure and 
self-righteous Jews, " John came unto you in the way of 
righteousness, and ye believed him not ; but the publicans 
and the harlots believed him : and ye, when ye had seen it, 
repented not afterward that ye might believe him." Matt. 
21 : 32. As though he had said, What did you do to quiet 
your consciences, when you saw other sinners humbled and 
brought to faith under John's ministry ? It is strange there 



\ \l i> 

should be no reflections in your consciences upon your own 
state and condition; but thus it must be, one shall !><• taken 
and another left ; to some the gospel shall he the savor of life 

unto lite, and to others the savor of death unto death. Who 

can look over so great a part of a congregation without ten- 
der compassion, considering that unto this day the Lord has 
not given them eyes to Bee, nor ears to hear? They have heard 
multitudes of sermons ; and they have also heard what effects 
these have had upon other men's hearts ; but they have none 
upon theirs. that such souls would cry to the Lord Jesus 
in such language as that in Sol. Song 13 : 13 : " The com- 
panions hearken to thy voice : cause me to hear it." Lord, 
let me not sit under the word any longer deaf to the voice 
of thy Spirit m it. Open the ears of my soul, that I may 
hear thy voice and feel thy power ; otherwise the voice of 
the ministry will be ineffectual to my salvation ; it will but 
quiet my conscience for a little while, and prove a dreadful 
aggravation of my misery in the end. 

2. It also follows from the subject, that we have this 
day before our eyes a great confirmation of the truth of the 
Scriptures. No miracles can seal it firmer than the events 
w T hich are visible to all that will observe them. What you 
read in the w r ord you may see every day fulfilled before your 
eyes. " We are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them 
that are saved, and in them that perish : to the one we are 
the savor of death unto death, and to the other the savor of 
life unto life." 2 Cor. 2 : 15, 16. And again, Acts 28 : 24, 
when Paul in his lodgings had expounded and testified the 
kingdom of God to the people, and persuaded them to be- 
lieve from morning till evening, it is observed, that " some 
believed the tilings which were spoken, and some believed 
not." Here you see the contrary effects of the preaching 
of the gospel, according to the scripture account of it : it 
quickens some and kills others; brings some to faitb, and 
leaves others still in unbelief. Compare this account with 



240 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOU. 

what is daily before you : do you not see souls influenced 
to contrary effects under the same word ; one melting and 
tender, another hardened and wholly unconcerned ? Tell 
me, you that are apt to ascribe all to nature, how comes it to 
pass m men exercising reason alike, men that have the same 
inbred fears and hopes of things eternal, who have the same 
passions and affections, and are in the selfsame condition with 
others ; yet one man's heart is wounded, and goes away trem- 
bling from under the selfsame word which affects the other 
no more than if it had been preached among the tombs to 
the dead that lie there ? Say not that some have more 
courage than others, or clearer understandings ; for the word 
has convinced as rational and courageous persons as those 
upon whom it has had no such effect. I doubt not but that 
the jailer who was filled with such trembling and astonish- 
ment, Acts 16 : 27-30, was as stout and rugged a person as 
any to whom Paul usually preached ; his very office bespoke 
him such a man. Wonder not what it is that makes men 
alarmed at such a sound, which you hear as well as they, 
but it affects you not. The Lord speaks in that voice to 
their hearts, but not to yours ; and so it must be, according 
to the account the Scriptures give us of the contrary effects 
of the gospel on them that hear it ; which is, I say, a firm 
seal of the truth of the Scriptures, and highly worth the ob- 
servation of all. 

3. What dignity has God stamped on gospel ordi- 
nances, in making them the medium through which Christ 
speaks life to dead souls. This greatly exalts the dignity of 
the gospel, and deservedly endears it to our souls. I deny 
not but God can convey spiritual life without them ; but 
though he hath not restricted himself, yet he hath enjoined on 
us a diligent attendance upon them, and that with the deep- 
est respect and reverence. " He that heareth you, heareth 
me ; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me ; and he that 
despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me." Luke 10 : 16. 



HIS VOICE 11 E A IT). !\ I 

Behold how this sin is aggravated to the height of sinful- 
ness. The contempt of the gospel rami much higher than 

men are aware of. We think it no great mailer to ne 
and contemn a messenger of Jesus Christ; hut that con- 
tempt iiies ill the very lace and authority of Christ, who 
gave them their commissions — yea, in the very face of God 
the Father, who gave Christ his commission. Christ speaks 
by his ministers, they are his month. Jer. 15 : 19. More- 
over, the sin strikes at our own souls, and we injure them 
as well as Christ. For the word preached is his appointed 
instrument to convey spiritual life, the best of blessings, to 
our souls. Upon which account it is called " the word of 
life," and "the power of God unto salvation." We militate 
against our life and salvation when we despise and neglect 
the ordinances of God. It is good for men continually to 
wait on them ; who knows when the Spirit of God will 
breathe life to your souls through them ? What if you have 
yet found no such benefit from them ? The very next op- 
portunity may be the appointed season of your salvation. 
Bring your ungodly relatives with you, as men did their 
diseased friends when Christ was on earth, laying them in 
the way he was to pass. Christ will honor his ordinances ; 
see that you do not despise them. 

4. What a fearful judgment is the loss of the gospel, 
seeing that by it Christ speaketh life to the souls of men. 
The Spirit and the word of God usually come and go togeth- 
er ; when therefore these are gone, no more conversions are 
to be expected : dreadful is the case of that people. "Where 
there is no vision, the people perish." Prov. 29 : 18. Those 
are direful menaces in Isaiah 8 : 16, "Bind up the testimo- 
ny, seal the law among my disciples ;" and He v. 2:5, "I 
will remove thy candlestick out of his place." Better the 
sun were taken out of heaven than the gospel out of the 
church. Think not God has made such a settlement of the 
gospel that it shall never be removed, however you use it. 

Christ Knocking. 1 1 



242 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

Your Advocate in heaven lias obtained it for you for a time 
upon trial ; if you bring forth, fruit, well ; you and the gen- 
erations to come shall be happy in it ; if not, this blessed 
tree, which has brought forth so many mercies to you and 
yours, must and will be cut down. Yea, and even now is 
the axe laid at the root of the tree. Matt. 3 : 10. It is an 
allusion to a carpenter that throws down the axe and the 
saw at the root of the tree he intends to cut down. The 
only ground of hope which remains with us is, that there 
are some buds appearing, some fruits putting forth ; and if 
there be a blessing in the bud, the Lord will spare it, ac- 
cording to Isa. 65 : 8. But these hopes are balanced with 
many sad symptoms, which may make us tremble to think 
what God is about to do with such a sinful people. 

5. Those ivho have heard Christ's voice in the gospel 
have no reason to be discouraged from going to Christ in 
faith. Christ's call is a sufficient warrant to believe. Many 
are staggered in their work of faith by the fear of presump- 
tion, an objection which they know not how to clear them- 
selves of; but certainly this, above all other considerations, 
destroys the objection of presumption. Men presume when 
they act without a call or warrant ; but if Christ has spoken 
to our hearts by the voice of his Spirit, you have the best 
warrant in the world to go to him. What though you know 
not the issue, your obedience is due to his call. "By faith 
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which 
he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and he 
went out, not knowing whither he went." Heb. 11:8. So 
must you. It is not necessary to your going to Christ, that 
you must know beforehand what the result thereof shall be 
Your believing is an act of obedience to Christ who calls 
you. "When therefore Satan shall object, What, such a 
wretched soul as thou go to Christ ? Canst thou imagine 
to find favor with him, whom thou hast so deeply wronged ? 
Thy answer should be, It is true, I have been a vile wretch, 



If IS VOICE II EA 

and deeply wronged the Lord Jesus; but he has spoken 
to my heart, he hath railed me, and therefore it can be no 
presumption in me to go at his call; but contrariwise, it 
would be llat rebellion against his sovereign command to 
refuse to believe, and come unto him ; yea, it would be a 
greater sin than any of my former sins have been. Besides, 
had the Lord Jesns no intention of mercy towards m\ bouI, 
lie would never have spoken to my heart by conviction and 
persuasion, as he has done. 

6. If no sonl opens to Christ until it hear his powerful, 
spiritual voice, then the change made in men by conversion 
is supernatural. The rise of faith is from this power of 
Christ, not from the nature of man. John 1:13. Proud 
nature arrogates this honor to itself, but without any ground ; 
for though some things may be done by men in their nat- 
ural state, which have a remote tendency to conversion and 
spiritual life, yet the soul never opens to Christ savingly, 
without a power communicated from himself. Nature pro- 
duces no such effect as this. The Scriptures speak plainly : 
" The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit ol 
God ; for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he 
know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor 
2 : 14. "By grace are ye saved, through faith ; and that 
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:8. " The 
carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to 
the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. " How 
can ye, being evil, speak good things." Matt. 12 : 34. " Not 
that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as oi 
ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God." 2 Cor. 3:5. How 
fallen then is man, who can neither believe nor obey, speak 
a good word nor think a good thought, without power from 
on high. 

Say not it is against reason for God to require men to do 
what they cannot do, and then eternally punish them for not 
doing it. For, first, though man has lost his ability to obey, 



244 CHUIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

God has not lost his right to command. For then any man 
might shake off the yoke of God's sovereignty by disabling 
himself through his own sin for the duties of obedience. 
Second, though man has not sufficient power, yet there is in 
him an intolerable pride, which fills him with a conceit 
that he has what he has not, and can do what he cannot. 
The command is therefore of great use to check this pride, 
and to convince man of his weakness. Rev. 3:17. Third, 
every man can do more than he does towards his conversion. 
And therefore it is good for men to be urged by commands 
to all the duties in the use of which Christ comes into the 
soul by a supernatural power. 

7. This doctrine furnishes a powerful incentive to all 
within the sound of the gospel, especially to such as feel 
some power accompanying the word to their hearts, dili- 
gently to hearken to the voice of Christ, and obey his call 
without further delay. "He that hath an ear to hear, 
let him hear." Rev. 2:7. It is a dreadful and dangerous 
thing to turn away the ear from him that speaks from 
heaven : " See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For 
if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, 
much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him 
that speaketh from heaven." Heb. 12 : 25. See that ye 
refuse not. The caution implies the matter to be very 
weighty, and a neglect or refusal to be highly dangerous 
Turn not away your ear, be not guilty of neglect in so 
important a concern. 

Truly this caution is no more than is needful ; for Satan 
is never more busy with the souls of men than when Christ 
first effectually calls them to himself. what a thick suc- 
cession of discouragements impetuously assault the soul at 
this time ! Art thou young ? then he insinuates that it is too 
soon for thee to mind the serious things of religion ; that this 
will extinguish all thy pleasure in a dull melancholy ; that 
thou may est have time enough hereafter to mind these mat- 



HIS VulUU KEAED. 

iers. Tliis temptation Augustine confessei kept him off 
many years from Christ. But certainly, if thou art old 
enough to be Lost, thou art not too young to receive Christ 
and salvation. There arc graves just of thy Length, and 

young as well as old arc found in (Menial perdition. Be 
all those godly youth who turned to the Lord betimes, as 
Josiah, Abijah, Timothy, and many more, will be your 
judges, and condemn you in the great day. None ever 
repented that they opened to Christ too soon: thousands 
have repented that they kept him out so long. Art thou 
old ? then he alarms thee with the manifold sins of thy 
youth, and places them as obstructions in thy way to Christ. 
And whether young or old, he will present the sufferings 
and persecutions of godliness, to discourage thee from heark- 
ening to the voice of Christ. But what are the sufferings 
for Christ here, to the sufferings from Christ hereafter ? 
What are the pains of mortification to the pains of damna- 
tion ? Besides, all the promises of Christ, promises of 
strength, comfort, and success, go with the command of 
Christ to believe, and shall surely be performed to the obe- 
dient soul. See, therefore, that thou refuse not his voice. 

But you will say, All that hear this voice of Christ are 
said to live. John 5 : 25. Now I am much in the dark 
whether this vital voice of Christ has sounded into my soul- 
Alas, I feel little, if any thing, of the spiritual life in my 
soul. I am dead and dark. Let us then improve the doc- 
trine by way of trial. 

Question. By ivliat signs does the life of Christ show 
itself in the souls of men ? 

Answer. There are diverse signs of spiritual life, and 
blessed is the soul that finds them. 

(1.) There is a spiritual feeling accompanying the spir- 
itual life. I speak not only of the sense of comfort, for 
many a soul in Christ feels little of that ; but there is a 



246 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOH. 

sense and feeling of the burden of sin. Rom 7 : 24. And it 
is well that we can feel that ; for there are multitudes in the 
world that are past feeling. Isa. 6 : 9, 10. It is a sign Ghrist 
has spoken to thy heart, if sorrow for sin begins to load it. 

(2.) Spiritual motions toivards Christ are a sign of spir 
itual life ; at least, that God is about that quickening work 
of faith upon thy soul : " Every man therefore that hath 
heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." 
John 6 : 45. The effectual voice of God sets the soul in 
motion towards Christ ; the will is moving after him ; the 
desires are panting for him. The voice of God makes the 
soul that hears it restless. As for others, their wills are 
fixed, there is no moving them. John 5 : 40. Now consider 
how it is with thee, reader. Art thou weighing and ponder- 
ing the terms of the gospel, struggling through discourage- 
ments and temptations to come to Christ upon his own 
terms, lifting up thy heart to him for power to believe, cry- 
ing with the spouse, Draw me, we will run after thee ? 
Sol. Song 1 : 4. This is a comfortable sign that Christ has 
spoken to thy heart. 

(3.) A spirit of prayer is an evidence of spiritual life, as 
the effect of Christ's voice to thy soul. As soon as Christ 
had spoken effectually to Paul's heart, the first effect that 
appeared in him as a sign of spiritual life, was the breath of 
prayer. Behold, he prayeth ! Acts 9:11. God has no 
still-born children. Measure thyself by this rule ; time was 
when thou couldst say a prayer, and wast very well satisfied 
with it, whether thou hadst any communion with God in it 
or no ; but is it so still ? Is there not a holy restlessness of 
spirit after God, since the time that his word came home to 
thy heart? Surely thou canst remember when it was not 
with thee as it is now. 

(4.) There is a spiritual relish resulting from the spirit- 
ual life, which is also an evidence of it. If God has spoken 
life to thy soul, there will be in it an agreeable pleasure and 



HIS VOICE HEARD. 247 

delight in spiritual things: "My soul shall be satisfied as 
with marrow and fatness." Psa. 63 : 5. Now thy thoughts 

can feed with pleasure upon spiritual things which they dig- 
liked before. 

(5.) Spiritual aversions els well as spiritual incliniu 
ir.dicate a spiritual life. Every creature has an aversion to 
what is destructive to it. Now there is nothing so destruc- 
tive to spiritual life as sin; that is the deadly poison which 
the renewed soul dreads. " Keep back thy servant also 
from presumptuous sins." Psa. 19 : 13. It cries out as a 
man who finds himself upon the brink of a pit, or the edge 
of a precipice: "Keep back thy servant." Such aversion 
to sin, and trembling under temptations tending to sin, are 
comfortable signs that Christ has spoken life to thy soul. 

(6.) Heavenly tendencies and longings after God are 
excellent signs that thy soul has heard his voice, and been 
quickened with spiritual life by it. Sanctification is a well 
of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4 : 14. 
If thou hast seen the beauty, felt the power, and heard the 
voice of Christ, thy soul, like a body which has lost its 
centre, will still be gravitating and inclining Christward. 
TVhen thou hast once heard the effectual call, Come unto 
me, Matt. 11 : 28, thy soul will continually echo the voice 
of holy love : " And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. 
And let him that heareth say, Come." Rev. 22 : 17. Thou 
wilt say in reply, " Come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22 : 20. A 
sweeter sign of hearing Christ's voice can hardly be found 
in a soul, than a longing to be with Christ in the state of 
perfect freedom from sin, and full fruition of the beloved and 
blessed Jesus. 



248 CHRIST KNOCKING M THE DOUR. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE OPENING OF THE HEART TO CHRIST BY 
FAITH THE GREAT DESIGN OE THE GOSPEL. 

"IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE AXD OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL 
COME IN TO HIM." Rev. 3 : 20. 

The powerful voice of Christ is the key that opens the 
door of the soul to receive him. The opening of the heart 
to receive Christ is the main design in all the external and 
internal administrations of the gospel and the Holy Spirit. 

The gospel has two great designs. One is, to open the 
heart of God to men, and to show them the everlasting 
counsels of grace and peace which were hid in God from 
ages and generations past ; that all men may now see what 
God has been designing and contriving for their happiness in 
Christ before the world was : " To make all men see what 
is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning 
of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by 
Jesus Christ ; to the intent that now unto the principalities 
and powers in heavenly places might be known by the 
church the manifold wisdom of God." Ephes. 3:9, 10. 
The other intention of the gospel is, to open the hearts of 
men to receive Jesus Christ, without which all the glorious 
discoveries of the eternal counsels and gracious contrivances 
of God for us, would signify nothing to our real "advantage. 
Christ's standing, knocking, and speaking by his Spirit, 
of which we have before treated, receive their success, 
and attain their end, when the heart opens itself by faith 
to receive him, and not till then. Hence we see our ninth 
doctrine is, 

The opening of the heart to receive Christ by faith, is 
the great design of the gospel. 

This is the mark to which all the arrows in the gospel- 
quiver are levelled — the centre into which those blessed 



THE HEART OPENED J) Y FAITH. 249 

lines arc drawn. "These arc written that ye might believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believ* 
ing, ye might have life through his name." John 20:31. 

All the precious truths that are written in the Scriptures 
are to bring you to faith. The great design of the Spirit in 
his illuminations, convictions, and humiliations is the same 
thing: "This is the work of God, that ye believe/' John 
6 : 29. It is not only a work worthy of such an author, 
but that on which God's eye is fixed in his workings upon 
us — the end and aim of his work. 

Great persons have great designs. This is the glorious 
project of the great God, and each person in the Godhead is 
engaged in it. 1. The Father's hand is in this work, and 
without it no heart could ever open or move towards Christ : 
" No man can come to me, except the Father which hath 
sent me draw him." John 6 : 44. None but he that 
raised up Christ from the dead, can raise up a dead heart to 
saving faith in him. 2. The Son's hand is in this work ; he 
is not only the object, but the author of our faith. " We 
know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an 
understanding, that we may know him that is true ; and we 
are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This 
is the true God, and eternal life." 1 John, 5 : 20. 3. And 
then the Holy Spirit comes from heaven expressly to con- 
vince sinners of their need of Christ, and beget faith in 
them. John 16: 9. So that this appears to be the great 
design of heaven, the drift and level both of the word and 
works of God. Touching this design of the gospel I shall 
here speak, endeavoring to illustrate this great and glorious 
project of heaven in its greatness ; its difficulty ; the Agent 
and instrument employed in it ; and its scope and aim. And, 

I. Of the greatness of this design of God. "We little 
understand what a marvellous thing is done on the earth 
when the heart of a sinner is brought to close with Christ 
by faith. It would transport us with admiration, did we 

11* 



250 CHillST KNOCKING AT THE BOOK. 

thoroughly consider it. Well may the apostle place it in 
the first rank of the wonderful works of God : " Great is the 
mystery of godliness : God was manifest in the flesh, justi- 
fied in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, 
believed on in the world." 1 Tim. 3:16. Observe with 
what works of wonder faith is here associated. It is an 
astonishing work of God, that ever God should be manifested 
in the flesh — that he who thunders in the clouds should cry 
in a cradle — that he who is over all, God blessed for ever, 
should become a man. It is astonishing, that when he was 
taken down dead from the cross, laid in the sepulchre, and 
the stone sealed upon it, he should rise on the third day 
from the dead by his own power. That the gospel should 
be preached to such miserable people as the Gentiles were, 
the scorn and contempt of the Jews. And no less marvel- 
lous is it, to see the hearts of such poor creatures, which 
were glued fast to idolatry and dead in sin, open to Christ 
upon such self-denying terms as to let go all they had in 
the world for a blessed inheritance which they never saw. 
"Were not this a marvellous work of God indeed, there 
would not be such joy and triumph in heaven among the 
holy angels, as there is on the opening of every sinner's heart 
to Christ. Luke 15 : 7. The whole city of God is moved 
with it. Heaven rings with the joyful tidings. As soon as 
the will begins to bow and open to Christ, the news is 
quickly in heaven, and all the angels of God rejoice at the 
tidings. As when a young prince is born, there is joy 
in every city throughout the kingdom ; so also there is in 
heaven, when Christ hath gotten a new habitation in the 
soul of any sinner upon earth. Moreover, the greatness of 
this design appears from the great rewards promised by the 
Lord to every servant of his who in the least degree helps 
it on. God would never reward the instruments so richly, 
if the success of the work were not of great value in his 
eyes. The ministers of Christ may be ill-rewarded by men, 



THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 251 

persecuted and reproached for their labor, but God will 
bountifully repay their pains and ia it 1 1 fulness. " They that 
be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and 
they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ev«r 
and ever." Dan. 12:3. All these things show it to be 
a great and important design, upon which the heart of God 
is much set. 

II. As it is an exceeding great and important work of 
God, so it is a very hard and difficult work in itself — a 
work whose difficulties surmount the ability of angels. It 
is certainly a work carried on by the mighty power of God, 
through the greatest opposition ; and therefore it is said 
that it is the peculiar prerogative of Jesus Christ, who only 
hath the key of the house of David, to open the heart of a 
sinner by faith. Rev. 3:7. Men think it is an easy thing 
to believe ; but if you consult the Scriptures, you will 
quickly be informed how greatly you mistake the nature of 
this work. The believing soul is said to be risen with 
Christ, through the faith of the operation of God, who 
raised him from the dead. Col. 2:12. In the resurrection 
of Christ there was a glorious operation of the power of 
God indeed ! you know it astonished the world to hear of it. 
The very same power that wrought that, must also be put 
forth to work this, or it would never be wrought. So 
again, "By grace are ye saved, through faith : and that not 
of yourselves ; it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:8. Not of 
yourselves : you are no more able to . come to Christ by 
faith, in your own power, than Lazarus was able to unbind 
nimself in the grave, and come forth. Yea, in Eph. 1:19, 
•*he work of believing is ascribed unto the exceeding great- 
ress of the power of God. No other but the almighty 
fX)wer of God can do it : it exceeds the power of ministers, 
/ea. of angels. Three things will evince the difficulty of 
his work. 

1. The nature of the work of faith, which is wholly 



252 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

supernatural. It is no less than gaining over the hearty and 
full consent of the will to take Jesus Christ with his yoke 
of obedience, Matt. 11 : 29, and with his cross of sufferings, 
Matt. 16:24. And how far these will carry a man into 
dangers, losses, and sufferings, who can tell ? and all this 
upon the account of an unseen happiness and glory. Lusts 
and corruptions must be mortified, pleasures and profits in 
the world abandoned ; reproaches, losses, pains, and all that 
the devil and the world can lay upon us for Christ's sake, 
must be embraced and welcomed. And can it be supposed 
that any power beneath the almighty power of the Lord, 
any voice except the efficacious voice of Christ, can prevail 
with the will to give its firm, explicit consent to such diffi- 
cult and self-denying terms as these ? 

2. Consider the subject wrought upon : the hard, obsti- 
nate heart of a perverse sinner — a heart harder by na- 
ture than the nether mill-stone. It is as easy to melt the 
most obdurate rock into a sweet syrup, as it is to melt the 
heart of a sinner into penitential sorrows for sin. "What, to 
bring a dead heart to life ; to make a man bitterly bewail 
the sins that were his delight, more than he ever bewailed 
the death of his dearest relation in the world ; to make a 
proud heart renounce its own self-righteousness, which it 
dotes upon, and take all shame and reproach to itself upon 
account of sin : this is wonderful. You would think it a 
strange thing to see the course of the tide stopped with the 
breath of a man ; but what a marvellous thing is here, 
that at the preaching of the gospel by a poor worm, the 
Lord should turn the tide of the will, and thus bring the 
soul to a ready compliance with his most self-denying terms 
and proposals ! 

3. That which further increases the difficulty of believ- 
ing is the fierce oppositicm made by the enemies of faith. 
All the powers of hell and earth without us are in league 
with the corruptions within us, to resist and hinder this work 



THE HEART OPENED UY FAITH. 263 

of believing. Never is the devil more busy than when 
Christ and the soul are treating about union. O the dis- 
couragements, objections, and difficulties that are. rolled into 
the way of faith ! one while it is the highest presumption ; 

another while it is impossible, and utterly too late : some- 
times blasphemous injections, like fiery darts, are shot into 
the soul; at other times the invincible difficulties of religion 
are objected, and losses and torments are opposed to this 
work. The tempter presents himself in a thousand shapes 
to hinder the soul's passing out of nature to Christ ; some- 
times objecting the greatness of sin, and sometimes the loss 
of the proper season and opportunity of mercy, together with 
the want of due qualifications to come to Christ. Thus, 
and many other ways, he endeavors to prevent sinners from 
taking hold of Christ : and as every devil in hell opposes 
this work, so every carnal interest we have in the world is 
an enemy to faith. We have enemies enough within us, as 
well as without us, conspiring together to obstruct this work ; 
all tilings increase the difficulty of believing. 

III. We are next to speak of the Agent and instru- 
ment employed in this great design. 

1. The Agent by whose efficacy the heart is opened is 
the Spirit of God, without whom it is impossible the design 
should ever prosper : neither ordinances, providences, 01 
ministers caii be successful without him. If the Lord make 
use of any man for the conversion and salvation of another's 
soul, he may rejoice in it ; but withal must say, as Peter to 
the Jews, "Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by 
our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk ?" 
Acts 3 : 12 So may the ablest minister in the world say, 
when God blesses his labors to the conversion of any soul, 
Look not upon me, as though by the strength of my reason, 
or the power of my gifts, I had opened thy soul to Christ : 
this is the w T ork of God's Spirit, in whose hand I am an 
instrument. 1 Cor. 3:7. He that plants is nothing, and he 



254 CHEIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

that waters is nothing — nothing in himself; the very first 
stroke of conviction, which is introductive to the whole work 
of conversion, is justly ascribed to the Spirit. John 16:9. 
The Spirit when he cometh shall convince the world of sin. 
He is the Lord of all sanctifying and gracious influences. 
Ordinances are but as the sails of a ship, ministers as the 
seamen that manage those sails ; the anchor may be 
weighed, the sails spread, but when all this is done, there is 
no sailing till a wind come. We preach and pray, and you 
hear ; but there is no motion Christward, until the Spirit of 
God, compared to the wind, John 3:8, blow upon them 
Until he illuminates the understanding with divine light, 
and bows the will by an almighty power, there can be 
no spiritual motion heavenward. Now the Spirit of the 
Lord is a free agent, not tied to means, times, or instru 
ments ; but, as at a certain time an angel came down upon 
the waters of Bethesda, and put a healing virtue into them, 
so it is here : therefore never come to any gospel ordinance 
without an eye to the Spirit, on whom all the blessings 
and efficacy depend. lift up your hearts for his blessing 
upon the means, as ever you expect saving benefits from 
them. 

2. The instrument by which this blessed design is 
accomplished in the world, is the gosjiel ministry. u Who 
then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye 
believed ?" 1 Cor. 3 : 5. This is the ordinary method of 
producing faith ; and though God has not bound himself to 
this or that minister, time, or place, he has bound us to a 
diligent and constant attendance upon the means of grace : 
" How then shall they call on him in whom they have not 
believed ? and how shall they believe in him of whom they 
have not heard ? and how shall they hear without a 
preacher?" Rom. 10:14. I confess, it seems a very 
unlikely means, a weak and foolish method, according to 
human wisdom ; yet by the foolishness of preaching, it 



THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 255 

pleases God to save them that believe. 1 Cor. 1:21. That 
which the wisdom of men derides, God makes effectual un- 
to salvation. And how many are there thai will have 

cause to bless God to all eternity, for gifting and sending 

ministers among them, whoso doctrine the Lord blessed to 
the conversion of their souls. 

IV. Consider THE GREAT design for which these instru- 
ments are employed ; there are no great designs in the w r orld 
hut aim at some end to he accomplished by them. Now 
there are two things in this design which are worthy of it. 

1. The exaltation of divine grace and the riches of 
his goodness before angels and men to all eternity. The 
name of God is never made so glorious in this world, as it is 
by bringing the hearts of men to believe. God reaps more 
glory from the faith of a sinner that comes to Christ empty 
and weary, than from all other works of his hands. He has 
not like glory from the sun, moon, and stars as from crea- 
tures wdiose hearts open to Jesus Christ under the gospel 
call. Thus they are fitted to manifest the glory of his grace. 
Eph. 1:5, 6. God will have his rich and glorious grace 
praised and admired by angels and men for evermore ; and 
every converted soul is a monument erected unto the praise 
of his grace. Heaven will ring with praises for ever, that 
the great God would humble himself to come into the heart 
of a vile sinner, and dw r ell and w r alk therein, as the expres- 
sion is, 2 Cor. 6:16. This is admirable, that the high and 
lofty One, w r ho inhabits eternity, will take up his dwelling- 
place in a poor contrite sinner, that trembles at his word. 
Isa. 57 : 15. 

2. The eternal salvation and blessedness of the soul so 
opened to Christ, is also the design of this work of opening 
the heart. When the soul of Zaccheus was opened by faith, 
Christ said, " This day is salvation come to this house." 
Luke 19:9. You do not only believe to the glory of God, 
but to the salvation of your own soul. Heb. 10:39. The 



256 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOH. 

opening of our hearts to Christ now, is in order to the opening 
of heaven to us hereafter ; this is both the end of the work 
and the intention of the worker. " It pleased God by the 
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." 1 Cor. 
1:21. It at once puts them into a state of salvation, though 
they be not yet actually and completely saved. There is 
a necessary connection between conversion and salvation. 
Though between conversion and complete salvation there 
may be many groaning hours and sad days and nights, yet 
full deliverance from sin and misery is secured to the soul 
in the work of faith. Christ in you is the hope of glory. 
Col. 1 : 27. 

Thus you see this great design projected and accom- 
plished ; and that this is the very scope, aim, and intention 
of the whole gospel, even the opening the hearts of sinners 
unto Christ by faith, will evidently appear by considering the 
several parts of the gospel which have a direct aspect upon 
this design, and the declared intention of the Spirit, who is 
sent forth to make it effectual to this very purpose. 

(1.) To this the commands of the gospel look; it lies 
full in the eye of the preceptive part of the gospel. " And 
this is his commandment, that we should believe on the 
name of his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John, 3 : 23. It is a very 
great encouragement, if rightly considered, that faith is con- 
stituted a duty by a plain gospel precept ; for this cuts ofl 
the pretence and plea of presumption. What, such a vile 
wretch as thou, saith Satan, presume to believe in Christ ? 
But here is a command from the highest Sovereign, the con- 
tempt of which men shall answer at their peril. 

(2.) This also is the declared intention of the gospel' 
promises and threatenings, whereby the souls of sinners are 
assaulted on both sides. As for promises, how are all the 
sacred pages of the Bible adorned with them as the firma- 
ment with radiant stars. Among which that in the text 
seems to excel in glory. " If any man open to me, I will 



THE HEAEI OPENED BY PAITH. £57 

come in to 1 1 1 1 1 1 . ^ ' Like unto which is this: "I am the 
bread of life : he that cometh to me shall never lnnr 
and he that believeth on me shall neves I hirst ; him that 

cometh to me I will in no wise cast, out." John G :35, 37, 
Such rich encouragements to faith had never been put into 
the promises, but for faith's sake. And then for gospel 
threatenings, though they have a dreadful sound, yet they 
have a gracious design. AVliat a terrible thunderclap is 
this: "He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; 
but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3 : 36. To 
which another threatening echoes with a like terrible voice : 
"He that believeth not, shall be damned." Mark 16 : 16 
There are dreadful things, you see, threatened in the gospel 
against unbelievers ; but what is the design of those threat- 
enings, but to rouse men by fear out of their unbelief and 
security, and guide them to Christ ? Thus both the prom- 
ises and the threatenings, though of far different natures, 
conspire and meet in the selfsame design, even to open the 
heart to Christ by faith. 

(3.) For the sake of this design, all gospel ordinances 
and officers, are instituted and continued in the world to this 
day. Why did Christ at his triumphant ascension shed forth 
such a variety of gifts upon men, but that God might dwell 
among them ? " Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led 
captivity captive : thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, for 
the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among 
them." Psalm 68 : 18. The whole frame of gospel ordi- 
nances is set up to bring men to Christ, and build them up 
in him. Eph. 4 : 12. 

(4.) All the scripture records of converted sinners, whose 
hearts God hath in any age opened, were made to encourage 
other souls by their example to believe in or open unto 
Christ as they did. For this purpose the memorable con- 
version of Paul was graciously recorded. " Howbeit, for 
this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ 



258 CHUifeT KNOCKING- AT THE DOOU. 

might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them 
that should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 
1 Tim. 1 : 16. Never was any man's heart bolted and 
made fast with stronger prejudices against Christ than this 
man's was ; yet the Spirit of the Lord opened it. how 
flexible became his will : " Lord, what wilt thou have me 
to do?" Acts 9:6. This, gives great encouragement to 
other sinners to come to Christ as he did ; and therefore 
when men see other sinners receiving Christ, and themselves 
continue unbelieving, the examples which God has set before 
their eyes are a dreadful aggravation of their unbelief 
" John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye 
believed him not : but the publicans and the harlots believed 
him ; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterwards, 
that ye might believe him." Matt. 21 : 32. Though you 
saw publicans, reputed the worst of men, and harlots, the 
worst of women, convinced, humbled, and brought to faith, 
these sights affected not your souls ; you never had one such 
reflection as this : Lord, have not I as much need to flee 
from the wrath to come, and seek the salvation of my soul, 
as these ? Will it not be a dreadful aggravation of my mis- 
ery, that such as these should obtain Christ and heaven, 
and I be shut out ? 

(5.) The opening of the heart to Christ is the very e?id 
and errand of the Sjririt of God, upon whose concurrence 
and blessing the success of all ordinances depends ; upon this 
design he is sent expressly from heaven to open the under- 
standing and consciences of sinners by conviction. John 
16 : 9. For it is not in the power of the word alone to pro- 
duce this effect ; thousands of excellent sermons may bo 
preached, and not one heart opened by conviction. 

What remains is the application of this doctrine. 

Inference 1. If the opening of the heart to Christ be 
the direct intention of the gospel, hoiv are they deceived ivho 
are satisfied in the attainment of some lesser end, while the 



THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 

effectual persuasion of the trill to Christ is not at all effect'* 
ed in them. There are Borne collateral effects, as 1 ma] 
call them, which the gospel has upon men. It would pain 
a considerate man to see hew Burners fill themselves with a 

false happiness in these lesser things, while they still renin in 
in the state of unregeneracy. I would fain undeceive sueh 
mistaken souls who bow down under the power of self- 
deceit, and that in a point in which their eternal salvation 
is concerned. There are two things which are apt to deceive 
men in this matter ; these are, partial convictions on the 
understanding, and transient motions on the affections. In 
these things multitudes deceive themselves, as if the whole 
design of the gospel were accomplished upon them therein. 

(1.) Partial convictions of the understanding — light and 
knowledge breaking into the mind, producing orthodoxy of 
judgment : this seems to some the effectual opening of the 
understanding to Christ, though alas, to this day they never 
saw sin in its vileness, much less their own special sin ; nor 
Christ in his suitableness and necessity. People who live 
under the gospel can hardly avoid the improvement of their 
understandings by the light that shines upon them ; know- 
ledge grows, their faculties expand, and they can talk well 
on religion and ably defend it. Perhaps they can even pray 
with commendable variety and largeness of expression : 
these things gain applause from men, and excite confidence 
in themselves, while no saving influences are shed down to 
quicken, change, and spiritualize the heart. 

(2.) There are transient motions and touches of the gospel 
upon the affections, which give some men melting pangs 
and moods now and then under the word, though it never 
settles into a spiritual frame, an habitual heavenliness of 
temper ; of such the apostle speaks, Heb. 6:5. And this 
is the more dangerous, because they now seen to have 
attained all that is essential to religion, or necessary to sal- 
vation. For when to the light of their understandings there 



260 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

* are added melting affections, a man seems to himself com* 
plete in all that the gospel requires to the being and consti- 
tution of a Christian, as a great divine, Mr. Burgess, speaks. 
Thus men are apt to reason : If I had only light in my 
mind, and never found any meltings of my affections, I 
might justly suspect myself to be a hypocrite ; but there ars 
times when my affections, as well as my understanding, 
seem to feel the power of the gospel. And yet these things 
may be where the heart never effectually opens to Christ ; 
all this may be but a morning dew, or an early cloud that 
vanisheth away ; as is plain in John's hearers, John 5 : 35, 
and in Paul's hearers, Gal. 4 : 14, 15. For except the 
convictions of the understanding are effectual, and the mo- 
tions upon the affections settled to a heavenly habit and 
temper, the man is but where he was before as to the real 
condition of his soul. Were thy understanding so convinced 
of the evil nature and dreadful consequences of sin, and thy 
affections and will thereupon so effectually determined to 
embrace the Lord Jesus, upon a considerate and thorough 
examination of his terms propounded in the gospel, then 
thou mightest conclude the great design of it was accom- 
plished upon thy soul ; but to rest in general convictions and 
transient affections without this, is but to mock and deceive 
thy own soul. Alas, this comes not home to the main end 
of the gospel. 

2. Lear n from hence the prodigious stubbornness and 
hardness of the hearts of men living under the gosjicl, 
which still resist it. You have heard how all its commands, 
promises, threatenings, and examples bear directly and 
jointly upon the hearts of sinners to open the will to Christ ; 
yet how few comparatively obey and answer this great 
design of it. All these are like heaven's great artillery 
planted against the unbelief and stubbornness of men, to 
batter down their carnal reasonings, overthrow their vain 
hopes, and open a fair passage for Christ into their souls 



Till-; II K A KT 0] ill. 2GI 

" For the weapons of our warfare are oot carnal, but mighty 
through God to the pulling down of strongholds ; casting 
down imaginations, and every thing that exalteth itself 
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity 
every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor. 1G 4, 5. 
If a mound be raised, and many cannon planted tliLicxn, 
and all are played against the wall of a fort, thousands of 
shots made and yet no breach, not one stone moved out of 
its place, you will say that is a strong wall indeed. Belov- 
ed, (Jod hath, as I may say, raised a mound in the gospel, 
planted the great ordnance of heaven upon it, discharged 
many dreadful volleys of threatenings ; nay, he hath, as it 
were, come under the walls of the unbelieving soul with 
terms of mercy, and yet there is no opening. prodigious 
obstinacy. " "We have piped unto you, and ye have not 
danced ; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not 
lamented." Matt. 11 : 17. Neither the sweet airs of gos- 
pel grace, nor the dreadful thunders of the law, make any 
impression upon you. what an obdurate rock is the heart 
by nature. Certainly, every Christian may see enough in 
others, and find enough in himself, without the help of other 
books, to confute the doctrine which extols and flatters the 
nature of man. It is as easy to make an impression with 
your finger upon a wall of brass, as for the best sermon in 
the world, in its own strength, to make a saving impression 
upon a sinner's will. 

3. Is it the great design of the gospel to open the hearts 
of men to Christ ? Then %conder not that it meets with 
such strong and fierce opposition from Satan, wherever it 
is sincerely and 'powerfully preached. As for general and 
formal preaching, which comes not to the quick, Satan is 
not so much concerned about it ; he knows it will do him 
no great damage ; nay, it secures his interests in the souls 
of men. But wherever the gospel comes with power, lay- 
ing the axe to the root, showing men the vanity of their 



262 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

ungrounded hopes, pressing the necessity of regeneration and 
faith, this preaching quickly gives alarm to hell, and raises 
all manner of opposition against it. " What is it to preach 
the gospel," saith Luther, " but to drive the rage and fury 
of the whole world upon us ?" Satan is the god of this 
world, all men by nature are his subjects : no prince is more 
jealous of the revolt of his subjects than he ; and it is time 
for him to bestir himself, when the gospel comes to dethrone 
him, as it does in the faithful preaching of it. " Now is the 
judgment of this world ; now shall the prince of this world 
be cast out." John 12:31. Now he falls as lightning 
from heaven. Luke 10:18. Now sinners are made sensi- 
ble of the cruel tyranny and bondage of Satan's government, 
and of the glorious liberty offered to them by Jesus Christ. 
Satan suspecting the issue of these things, bestirs himself to 
purpose. what showers of calumnies and storms of per- 
secution does he pour on Christ's faithful ambassadors. 
Certainly he owes Christ's ministers a spite, and they shall 
know and feel it, if ever he get them within the compass of 
his chain. But let this discourage none employed in this 
glorious design ; the Lord is with them to protect their per- 
sons and reward their diligence. 

4. If the opening of the heart be the main design of the 
gospel, Christ and faith ought to be the 'principal subjects 
that ministers should insist on among their people. There 
are many other useful doctrines which ought to be opened 
and pressed in their time and place. Moral duties have 
their excellencies, but Christ and faith are the great things 
we are to preach. Let men be once brought to Christ, and 
the rest will follow ; but to begin and end with morality, 
will never make men gospel Christians. Grace teaches 
morality, Tit. 2:11, 12 ; but morality without grace saves 
no man. It has been a grand artifice of the devil to con- 
found grace with morality, and make men believe that 
nothing more is required for men's salvation, than a civil, 



THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 

sober conversation in the world, and so lay aside the princi- 
pal part of the gospel, which opens and presses the necessity 
of regeneration, repentance, and faith in the blood of Christ 

Such preaching as this answers not the design of Christ in 
the conversion of souls; such preaching disturbs not the 

consciences of men : the Lord help all his ambassadors to 
mind the example and charge of their Redeemer, and laying 
aside all carnal interest, to apply themselves faithfully unto 
the souls and consciences of their hearers, not as men-ph 
ers, but as the servants of Christ. Gal. 1:10. 

5. In the next place, this doctrine is of excellent use to 
convince ?ne?z of the damning nature of the sin of unbe- 
lief — a sin which frustrates the main design of the gospel 
of Christ on the unbeliever's soul. This is the sin that 
keeps the heart fast shut against him. As faith is the rad- 
ical grace, so unbelief is the radical sin. It is the traitor's 
gate, through which those souls pass that are to perish for 
ever. The gospel can do you no good, the blood of Christ 
can yield no saving benefit, while your souls remain under 
the dominion of this sin. "When we consider the mighty 
arguments of the gospel, we may wonder that all who hear 
them are not immediately persuaded to Christ by them. 
And on the other hand, when we consider the mighty 
power of unbelief, how strongly it holds the soul in bondage 
to sin, we may wonder that any soul is brought over to 
Christ even by the gospel. It was not without cause that 
the apostle puts faith in Christ among the great mysteries 
of the gospel. 1 Tim. 3 : 16. The intrinsic evil and fearful 
consequences of this sin of unbelief will appear in these 
three particulars. 

(1.) It fixes the guilt of all other sins on the person of 
the unbeliever ; it binds them all fast on his soul : " For if 
ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." 
John 8 : 24. It were better for thee to die any other death. 
What more terrible can God threaten, or man feel ? This 



264 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOH. 

is the sin that makes the death of Christ of none effect to 
us. Gal. 5 : 4. There is indeed a sovereign virtue in the 
blood of Christ to pardon sin, but thy soul cannot have the 
benefit of it while it remains under the dominion of this 
sin. As it was said of the inhabitants of Nazareth in their 
treatment of Christ, "He did not many mighty works 
there, because of their unbelief," Matt. 13 : 58 ; so none of 
his spiritual works, no ordinances can do thy soul good, 
until the Lord break the power of this sin. " The word 
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in 
them that heard it." Heb. 4:2. If a man were danger- 
ously sick, or wounded, the best medicines could never 
recover him, unless received and applied. Unbelief pours 
the most sovereign cordials of the gospel as water upon the 
ground. The greatest sins ever committed might be par- 
doned, did not this sin lie in the way ; were this gone, all 
the rest were gone too : but while unbelief remains, they 
also remain upon thee. 

(2.) Of all the sins that are upon the souls of men, thil 
is the most difficult to be removed. Other sins lie open to 
conviction, but this has the most specious pretences to coun- 
tenance it. Men commit this sin out of a fear of sin. They 
will not believe, lest they should presume ; they dare not 
believe, because they are not qualified. The strength of 
other sins meets in this sin of unbelief: it is the strongest 
fort wherein Satan trusts. Take an adulterer, or a profane 
swearer, and you have an open way to convince him of his 
sin : show him the command he has violated, and he has 
nothing to say in his own defence ; but the unbeliever has 
a thousand plausible defences. 

(3.) This is the great damning sin of the icorld. All 
other sins deserve damnation, " for the wages of sin is 
death," but this is the sin in consequence of which other 
sins damn and ruin the soul. " This is the condemnation." 
John 3:19. And it is a sin which damns with aggravated 



THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 26fi 

ruin. 2 Tli' then, lei us mourn over and trem- 

ble at this dreadful sin, which opposes and so often frustrates 
the great design of the whole gospel. 

G. Is it the main scope of the gospel to bring men. to 
Christ by faith ? then be per suaded heartily to comply tvith 
this great design of the Father ', Son, end Spirit, minis- 
ters, ordinances, and providences, in opening your hearts 
to receive Christ, this day by faith unfeigned. that I 
could suitably press this great point, which falls in so directly 
with the main scope of the whole gospel : and that while 
I am pressing it, you would lift up a hearty cry to heaven. 
Lord, give me faith, whatever else thou deniest me ; open 
my heart to Christ under the gospel calls. I not only press 
you to a general assent to the truths of the gospel, that 
Christ is come in the flesh and laid down his life for sin- 
ners, but to a hearty consent to receive him upon gospel 
terms — to close with him in all his offices, subjecting heart 
and life to his authority, living entirely upon him for right- 
ousness and to him by holiness. The value of such a faith 
as this is above all estimation. For, 

(1.) This is the grace which God has dignified and 
crow T ned with glory and honor above all its fellow-graces. 
Its praises are in all the Scriptures. It is called precious 
faith, 2 Pet. 1:1; soul-enriching faith, Jas. 2 : 5. That 
is a poor soul indeed that is destitute of it, whatever the 
gifts of providence have been to him. And he is truly rich 
to whom God has given faith, whatever he has denied him 
of the comforts of this life. This Christ calls the work of 
God : " This is the work of God, that ye believe." John 
6 : 29. So are all other things that your eyes behold the 
works of God ; the earth, the sea, the sun, the moon, and 
Stars, are his handiwork. True, but this is the work, the 
most glorious and admirable work of God, excelling all his 
other works. And, 

(2.) That which exalts it not only above all the works 

Christ Knocking. 12 



266 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE BOOR. 

of God's hands, but even above its fellow-graces the work 
of his Spirit, is the high office to which it is appointed in the 
justification of a sinner. God has singled out this from all 
the other graces, to be the instrument of receiving and ap- 
plying the righteousness of Christ for the justification of a 
guilty soul. You are never said to be justified by love, hope, 
or desire, but by faith. Eom. 5:1. It is true, all other 
graces are supposed in the person justified ; but none appre- 
hends and applies the righteousness of Christ for justifica- 
tion, but this only. And the justifying act of faith being a 
receiving act, the glory of God is therein secured : " There- 
fore it is of faith, that it might be by grace/' Eom. 4:16. 

(3.) The grace of faith which I am now recommending 
to you, is not only the instrument of your justification, but 
the bond of your union with Christ : " That Christ may 
dwell in your hearts by faith." Eph. 3:17. It is the 
uniting grace ; it is that which gives interest hi and title 
to the person and benefits of Christ ; the great thing upon 
which the eyes of all awakened sinners are intently and 
solicitously fixed. "Whatever views you have of an interest 
in Christ, and whatever his benefits are worth in your eyes, 
neither himself nor they can ever be obtained without faith. 
brethren, there is a day coming when they that now 
neglect this concern of their souls, would gladly part with 
ten thousand worlds for the friendship of Christ, could it be 
purchased therewith ; but it is faith that entitles you to 
Christ and to his benefits. 

(4.) That which should yet more endear this grace of 
faith to you is, that it is the hand which receives your par- 
don from the hand of Christ, the messenger that brings 
pardon to a trembling sinner. " By him all that believe 
are justified from all things, from which they could not be 
justified by the law of Moses." Acts 13 : 39. They are 
cleared from all those sins from which the law could never 
clear them, nor any repentance, restitution, or obediencs ol 



Til E n E A i; C OPENED . i i[. 267 

their own without faith. O whal a welcome n >r m 

Faith, and what joyful tidings does it bring! you will Bay bo if 
you have fell the efficacy of the law upon your conscience — 

if you have lain, as some dinners have, with a cold hor- 
ror on your panting hosoms, under the apprehensions of the 
wrath of God. This fruit of faith ie rather to he admired 
than expressed. Psa. 32 : 1. 

(5.) Faith is not only the messenger that brings you a par- 
don from heaven, but it is, as I may say, the heavenly herald 
that publishes peace to the sinner. pcacc^ how sweet a 
word art thou ; how welcome to a poor condemned sinner ! 
" Beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that 
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace." Isa. 52 : 7. 
It is faith that brings this blessed news and publishes it in 
the soul, without which all the publishers of peace without 
us can administer but little support. Horn. 5:1. Faith 
brings the soul out of the storms with which it was tossed, 
into a sweet rest : " We which have believed do enter into 
rest." Heb. 4:3. Is the quiet harbor welcome to weather- 
beaten seamen, after they have passed furious storms and 
many fears on the raging sea ? how welcome then must 
peace be to the soul that hath been tossed on the tempestuous 
ocean of its own fears, blown up and incensed by the terri- 
ble blasts of the law and of conscience. It was a com- 
fortable sight to Noah and his family, to see an olive-leaf in 
the mouth of the dove, by which they knew the waters 
were abated. But what is it to hear such a voice as this 
from the mouth of faith: "Fury is not in me, saith the 
Lord ; his anger is turned aw r ay, and he comforteth thee ?" 
Isa. 12 : 1. Fear not thou, the God of peace is thy God. 

(6.) Faith not only brings the soul into a calm, but opens 
to it a door of access into the gracious presence of God; 
without it there is no coming to him acceptably : " He that 
cometh unto God must believe." Heb. 11:6. This access 
to God is indeed the purchase of the blood of Christ ; but 



268 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

faith is the grace that brings the soul actually into the 
presence of God, and there helps it to ease its griefs, and 
with holy freedom to make known its grievances, fears, and 
burdens to the Lord. This world were not worth living in 
without such a blessed relief to our troubles. The believer 
only has the key that opens the door of access unto God ; if he 
has sins, wants, burdens, afflictions, or temptations, here he 
can lay them down. Ah, Christian, the time may come when 
thy heart may be filled with sorrows, and there may not be 
found a person of thy acquaintance in all the world to whom 
thou canst turn to relieve thy sorrows. Blessed be God for 
faith ; the ease that the act of faith gives to a troubled 
soul. Well may it be said, " The just shall live by his 
faith." Hab. 2:4. How can we imagine we should live 
without it ? Our afflictions and temptations w r ould swallow 
us up, were it not for the sweet assiduous reliefs that come 
in by faith. 

(7.) And yet further to inflame your desires after faith, 
this is the grace that gives you the soul-reviving sights of 
the invisible world, without which this world would be a 
dungeon to us. It is not only the substance of things 
hoped for, but the evidence of things not seen. Heb. 11:1. 
it is a precious eye : how transporting are those visions of 
faith. " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though 
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy un- 
speakable and full of glory." 1 Pet. 1 : 8. We who preach 
of heaven to you, cannot show you the glorious person of 
Christ there, nor the thrones and crowns that are above ; 
but faith can make these things visible. That is an eye 
which can penetrate the clouds, and show to you him that 
is invisible. Heb. 11 : 27. 

(8.) The grace of faith, which I am now recommending 
to you, is instrumentally the sustenance of your souls in this 
world : " The just shall live by his faith." Hab. 2 : 4. 
When God gives a man faith, he gives it to him to sustain 



THE HEART OPENED BY FAITH. 260 

his life, and expects him to live upon it while he lives in 
this world. He has made plentiful provision for your souls, 
when he has given them faith, and furnished ^w\\ a variety 

of precious promises for it to feed upon. Abraham, Moses, 
David, and all the saints, lived on no other provision but 
what faith brought in; and at what an excellent rate did 
they live. Here man eatetli angels' food. It is a store- 
house of provision, it is a shop of cordials : " I had lain led 
unless 1 had believed." Psa. 27 : 13. A believer lives the 
highest life of all men on earth ; and as his soul is daily fed 
by faith, so all his other graces are maintained and daily 
supported by the provision faith brings them in. The other 
graces, like the young birds in the nest, live upon the pro- 
vision this grace of faith gathers for them. Take away 
faith, and you starve the soul of a Christian. Will not al] 
this engage your desire after faith ? 

(9.) Consider also, that this is the grace whereby we die 
safely as well as live comfortably : as you cannot live com- 
fortably without faith in this world, so neither can you die 
safely or comfortably without it, when you go out of the 
world. " These all died in faith, not having received the 
promises ; but having seen them afar off, and were per- 
suaded of them, and embraced them." Heb. 11 : 13. These 
excellent persons all died embracing the promises in the 
arms of their faith. An allusion to two dear friends em- 
bracing each other at their parting. precious promises, 
says the dying believer ; of what unspeakable benefit have 
you been to me all the days of my pilgrimage. To you I 
was wont to turn in all my troubles and distresses ; but I 
am now going into the life of immediate vision : farewell 
blessed promises, scriptures, ordinances, and communion of 
saints on earth; I shall walk no more by faith, but by 
sight. 

(10.) In a word, this is the grace that saves you : " By 
grace are ye saved, through faith." Eph. 2 : 8. Your salva- 



270 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

tion is tlie fruit of free-grace ; but grace itself will not save 
you in any other method but that of believing. The grace 
of God runs through the channel of faith ; faith is the grace 
that espouses your soul to Christ here, and accompanies 
you every step of the way until you come to its full enjoy- 
ment in heaven, and then it is lost in vision. It embarks you 
with Christ, and pilots you through the dangerous seas, till 
you drop anchor in the haven of everlasting rest and safety ; 
where you receive the " end of your faith, the salvation of 
your souls." then, in consideration of the incomparable 
worth and absolute necessity of this grace, make it your 
great study, make it your constant cry to heaven, night and 
day, Lord, give me a believing heart, a heart opening to 
Jesus Christ. If you fail of this, you come short of the 
great design of the whole gospel, which is to bring you to 
faith, and by faith to heaven. 



THE G-OSPEL I 271 



CHAPTER X. 

CHRIST BRINGS GREAT BLESSINGS TO THE 

SOUL THAT OPENS TO HIM. 

"IF ANY NUN HEAR MY VOICE AND Ol'EN THE DOOR, I WILL 
COME IN TO 11131, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND HE WITH 
ME." Rev. 3: '20. 

In the former chapters we have considered Christ's suit 
for a sinner's heart : we now come to the powerful argu- 
ments and motives used by him to obtain his suit, which are 
two : first, union, "I will come in to him, and sup with 
him;" and second, communion, "and he with me." 

These are strong and mighty arguments and encourage- 
ments, able, one would think, to open any heart in the world 
to Christ : and yet considering how the hearts of men are 
attached to their lusts and riveted in their sins, until the 
Spirit come upon them with powerful convictions ; and when 
under conviction, what discouragements they labor under 
from their former sinfulness and present unworthiness, all is 
little enough to bring them to faith, nay, utterly insuffi- 
cient, without the almighty power set them home with effect 
on the heart : for it is not mere moral suasion will do the 
work. It is true, Christ will not make a forcible entrance 
into the soul, he will come in by consent of the will ; but 
the will consents not, until it feels the power of God upon 
it. Psalm 110 : 3. Almighty power opens the heart and 
determines the will, but in a way congruous to the nature 
of the will. " I drew them with cords of a man, with bands 
of love." Hos. 11 : 4. "When, under the influence of this 
power, the soul opens to Christ, he will come in, take that 
soul for his everlasting habitation, refresh and feast it with 
the sweetest consolations and privileges purchased by his 
blood ; whence the tenth doctrine is, 



272 ^HRIST. KNOCKING- AT THE DOOSL. 

Christ will certainly come in to the soul that opens to 
him; and will bring rich entertainment with him. " I 
will come in to liim, and sup with him." 

When the prodigal, the emblem of a convert, returned 
to his father, Luke 15 : 22, his father not only received, but 
adorned and feasted him. In opening this point, I shall 
show what Christ's coming into the soul implies ; how it 
appears that Christ will come in to the opening soul ; what 
entertainment he brings with him ; and why he thus enter- 
tains the soul that opens to him. 

I. \That Christ's coming in to the soul implies ; and 
in general I must say this is a great mystery, which will not 
be fully understood till we come to heaven : "At that day 
ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I 
in you." John 14 : 20. Then the essential union of Christ 
and his Father, and the mystical union between believers 
and Christ, w T ill be more clearly understood than we are 
capable of understanding them in this imperfect state ; yet 
for the present so much is discovered, as may justly astonish 
poor sinners at the marvellous condescension of the Lord 
Jesus to them. More particularly, the expression, " I will 
come in to him," imports no less than his uniting such a 
soul to himself; for he comes in with a design to dwell in 
that soul by faith, Eph. 3 : 17 — to make su/m a man a mys 
tical member of his body, flesh, and bones, Eph. 5 : 30, 
which is the highest honor the soul of man is capable of. 
This coming of Christ into the soul of a sinner does not 
indeed make him one person with Christ ; that is the singular 
honor to which our nature was advanced by Christ in his 
uniting the divine nature with it. But this makes a person 
mystically one with Christ, and is more than a mere federal 
union. Christ's coming into the soul signifies more than his 
entering into covenant with it ; for it is taking such a person 
into a mystical union with himself, by imparting his Spirit 
unto him. As the vital sap of the stock coming into ths 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 273 

graft, makes it, one with the slock, John 1 ; "> :4, bo the com- 
ing of Christ's Spirit into the soul makes it a member of his 
mystical body; and this is b glorious supernatural work of 

God, 1 Cor. 1:30, most honorable, most comfortable, and 
for ever sure and indissoluble ; as 1 have more fully showed 
in Tile Method of Grace.* 

II. I shall show the certainty that Christ will come 
i)i with refreshments and comforts to every soul that opens 
to him. No former rebellions or present unworthiness shall 
bar out Christ, or obstruct his entrance into such a soul. 
Whatever thou hast been or done, Christ will come in to thee 
and dwell with thee, and make thy soul a habitation for him- 
self through the Spirit. Eph. 2 : 22. Let thy heart bo 
open to him, and he will both fill and feast thee, not with 
standing all thy former sins. 

I know it is a common discouragement that multitudes 
of convinced sinners lie under, that seeing so much vileness 
in their nature and practice, they cannot be persuaded that 
the Lord Jesus will cast an eye of favor on them, much less 
take up his abode in them. What, dwell in such a heart as 
mine, which has been a habitation of devils., a sink of sin 
from my beginning ? this is hard to be believed. But, sin- 
ner, thou hast the word of a King from heaven for it, a word 
whose credit has never failed from the first moment it was 
spoken, that whatever thy former or present unworthiness 
has been, or is, he will not withhold himself from such a 
soul as thou art, if thou be but willing to open to him. Thy 
great unworthiness shall be no bar to his union with thee. 
" If any man open, I will come in to him." For, 

1. If personal unworthiness were sufficient to bar Christ 
out of thy soul, it would equally bar him out of all othe? 
souls, for all are unworthy as well as thyself. Where vei 
Christ finds sinfulness, he finds unworthiness ; and to be 
sure he finds this wherever he comes. Christ never expect- 
# Published by the American Tract Society. 
12* 



274 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

ed to find worthiness in thee, but it highly pleases him to 
find thee under a becoming sense of thy unworthiness. 
"Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast trans- 
gressed against the Lord thy God." Jer. 3 : 13. The re- 
turning prodigal acknowledged to his father, I am not worthy 
to be called thy son. Luke 15 : 18, 19. But this did not 
hinder his acceptance by his father. All that come to 
God to be justified, must see and confess their own vile 
ness, and come to him as one that justifieth the ungodly 
Rom. 4 : 5. 

2. Thy former vileness and present unworthiness can be 
no bar to Christ's entrance, because it can be no surprise to 
him. He knew thou wast unworthy when he made the 
first overture of grace and reconciliation to thee ; and if thy 
unworthiness hindered not the beginning of his treaty with 
thee, it shall not hinder the closing act in his union with 
thee. " I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacher- 
ously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb." 
Isa. 48 : 8. 

3. Christ never came into a soul where Sata?i Juzd not 
the possession before him. Every soul in which Christ now 
dwells was once in Satan's possession. " To turn them 
from darkness to fight, and from the power of Satan unto 
God." Acts 26 : 18. " When a strong man armed keepeth 
his palace, his goods are in peace ; but when a stronger than 
he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from 
him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his 
spoil." Luke 11 : 21, 22. 

4. Thy present unworthiness can be no bar to Christ's 
entrance into thy soul, because Christ never objected to any 
man his unworthiness, but only his univilling-ness to come 
to >im. " Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have 
life." John 5 : 40. And again, "How often would I have 
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, and ye would not." Matt. 



OSPBL PBAST. 

23:37. You find something like a repulse from Christ to 
the poor Canaaniteas : '< Have mercy on me, Lord, 

that difitreeeed soul ; " but lie answered and said, it is not 
meet to take the children's bread and to cast it to <1 
Mali. 15:22, 26 However harshly these words sound, it 
was not Christ's intention to discourage her faith, but to 
draw it forth to a more intense degree ; which eilect was 
produced. Verse 27. 

5. In either would Christ have made the lenders of mercy 
ge and indefinite, had he intended to shut out any 
soul on account of its personal unworthiness, provided it he 
but willing to come to him. Cast thine eye, discouraged 
soul, on Christ's invitations and proclamations of mercy in 
the gospel, and see if thou canst find any thing besides 
unwillingness as a bar between thee and mercy ; hearken to 
that voice of mercy: " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, 
buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money 
and without price ;" that is, without personal desert or 
worthiness. Isa. 55:1. So again, "The Spirit and the 
bride say, Come ; and let him that heareth say, Come ; and 
let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever will, let him 
take the water of life freely." Rev. 22 : 17. Here you see 
personal unworthiness is no obstacle in the way of Christ. 
Once more, " In the last day, that great day of the feast, 
Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him 
come unto me and drink." John 7:37. Thus you see 
what Christ's coming in to the soul is, and what evidences 
there are that when the soul is made truly willing, Christ 
will certainly come into it ; and no former vileness or pres- 
ent unworthiness shall be a bar to obstruct his entrance. 

III. I shall show that when Christ comes in to the 

SOUL, HE WELL NOT COME EMPTY-HANDED. It is Christ's mar- 

riage-day, and he will make it a good day, a festival day ; 
bringing- such coniforts with him as the soul never tasted 



276 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

before. He spreads a table and furnishes it with the deli- 
cacies of heaven. "I will sup with him," saith the text. 
"What those spiritual mercies are which Christ brings with 
him to the opening soul, comes next in order to be spoken 
of. And, 

1. "When Christ comes in to the soul of a sinner, he 
brings a 'pardon with him — a full, free, and final pardon of 
all the sins which that soul has ever committed. This is a 
feast of itself, good cheer indeed ; Christ thought it to be so 
when he told the poor palsied man, " Son, be of good cheer ; 
thy sins be forgiven thee." Matt. 9 : 2. He does not say, 
Be of good cheer, thy palsy is cured, and thy body recovered 
from the grave; but, " be of good cheer, thy sins are for- 
given." how sweetly may the pardoned soul feed upon 
this. And this is not a mercy designed for some special 
favorites, but what is common to all believers. " By him 
all that believe are justified from all things." Acts 13 : 39. 
Christ and pardon come together ; and without a pardon no 
mercy would relish : neither feast nor music, neither money 
nor honor bring any comfort to a condemned man ; but the 
comfort of a pardon reaches to the very heart. " Comfort 
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye com- 
fortably to Jerusalem," Isa. 40 : 1, 2 ; or, as in the Hebrew, 
" speak to the heart of Jerusalem." But what are the ingre- 
dients of that cordial that will comfort Jerusalem's heart ? 
" Cry unto her, that her iniquity is pardoned." That carries 
with it the spirit of all consolation. 

There are three things in the pardon of sin which make 
it the sweetest mercy the soul ever tasted ; comfort which 
is impossible to be communicated to another as the pardon- 
ed soul has it. Rev. 2:17. 

(1.) One thing which makes the pardon of sin sweet, is 
the trouble that went before it. The laborings and restless 
tossings of the troubled soul, before his pardon, make the 
ease and ucace th*+ follow it incomparably sweet. As the 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. ?77 

bitterness of hell was tasted in the sorrows of Bin, bo ilio 
sweetness of heaven is tasted in the pardon of it. 

(2.) The nut a re of the mercy itself is incomparably 

sweet, for it is a mercy of the first rank. Pardon is a mercy 
which admits no comfort before it, nor can any jusl cause of 
discouragement follow it. If God has not spoken pardon to 

the soul, it ban have no settled ground for joy. 
33 : 10. And if he has, there can he no just ground lor 
dejection, whatever troubles lie upon it. "The inhabitant 
shall not say, I am sick ; the people that dwell therein shall 
be forgiven their iniquities." Isa. 33 : 24. 

(3.) This mercy is made sweet to the soul by the prop- 
erties of it, which are four : first, God writes upon thy par- 
dim, free; it is mercy which costs thee nothing: "Being 
justified freely by his grace." Rom. 3 : 24. " Thou hast 
bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou 
filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices ; but thou hast made 
me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine 
iniquities." But, " I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy 
transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not remember 
thy sins." Isa. 43 : 24, 25. Second, God writes upon thy 
pardon, full, as well as free ; the pardon extends to all the 
sins thou hast ever committed: "By him all that believe 
are justified from all things." Acts 13 : 39. The sins of 
thy nature and practice ; the sins of thy youth and riper 
age ; great sins and lesser, are all comprehended within thy 
pardon. Thou art acquitted not from one only, but from 
all. Certainly, the joy of heaven must come down in the 
mercy of remission. AYhat a feast of fat things with mar- 
row is this single mercy, a pardon free without price, full 
without exception. And then, third, it is final, without 
revocation ; the pardoned soul never more comes into con- 
demnation. Thine iniquities are removed from thee as far 
as the east is from the west. As those two opposite points 
can never meet, so the pardoned soul and its pardoned sins 



278 UHB.IST KNOCKING- AT THE POOR. 

can never more meet unto condemnation. Psalm 103 : 12. 
Fourth, God 'writes upon the pardon another word, as sweet 
as any of the rest, and that is, sure. It is a standing mercy, 
never to be recalled or annulled. Rom. 8 : 33-35. The 
challenge is sent to earth and hell, men and devils : " Who 
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect ? It is God 
that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ 
that died." Who can arrest when the creditor discharges ? 
Who can sue the bond when the debt is paid ? " It is Christ 
that died." The table is spread, and the first mercy served 
in is the pardon of sin. " Eat, friends ; drink, yea, drink 
abundantly, beloved." Sol. Song 5 : 2. Now the labor- 
ing conscience that rolled and tossed upon the waves of a 
thousand fears, may drop anchor, and ride quiet in the 
pacific sea of a pardoned state. What joy must flow through 
the conscience when the sweetness of that scripture, " There 
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in 
Christ Jesus," Rom. 8:1, shall be pressed into thy cup of 
consolation. The pardoned soul may think of death and 
judgment without consternation ; yea, may look upon them 
as a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Acts 
3:19. This is heavenly manna, the sweetness of it exceeds 
all expression ; no words, no thoughts can comprehend the 
riches of this mercy. 

2. And yet this is not all ; behold another mercy brought 
in to cheer the consenting soul, and that is peace with God. 
Pardon and peace go together : " Being justified by faith, 
we have peace with God." Rom. 6:1. Peace is a word 
of vast comprehension : in the language of the Old Testa- 
ment, it comprehends all temporal good things, 1 Sam 
25 : 6 ; and peace in the New Testament comprehends all 
spiritual mercies, 2 Thess. 3:16: the blessings of heaven 
and earth are wrapt up in this word. The soul that opens 
to Christ has the peace of reconciliation with heaven ; the 
enmity that was between God and that soul is taken away 



THE aOSPEL FEAST. 279 

through Jesus Christ. " Lord, I will praise thee : though 
tliou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and 
thou comfortedst me." Isa. 12:1. This must be an inval- 
uable mercy, for the purchase of it cost the blood of Christ : 
" The chastisement of our peace was upon him." Isa. 53 : 5. 
He made peace by the blood of his cross, Col. 1 : 20 ; and 
this peace of reconciliation is settled by Christ upon a firm 
foundation. His blood gives it a more firm foundation than 
that of the hills and mountains. Isa. 54 : 10. And that 
which makes it so firm and sure, is the advocateship of Jesus 
Christ in heaven : "If any man sin, we have an Advocate 
with the Father." 1 John, 2:1. There is also peace in 
the believer's conscience — peace as it were by proclamation 
from heaven ; and this is built upon the peace of reconcili- 
ation. We cannot have the sense of peace till we are 
brought into a state of peace ; the one is the result of the 
other. And this is a part of the supper Christ provides to 
entertain the soul that receives it. How sweet this is, is 
better felt than spoken. A dreadful sound was lately in the 
ears of the law-condemned sinner ; but now his heart is the 
seat of peace. This peace is, 

(1.) The soul's guard against all inward and outward 
terrors. The peace of God shall keep, or, as the original 
word is, guard your hearts and minds. Phil. 4:7. The per- 
sons of princes are secured by guards of armed men, who 
watch while they sleep. Thus Solomon had his royal guard, 
because of fear in the night. Sol. Song 3 : 7, 8. This peace 
of God, Christian, is thy life-guard, and secures thee better 
than Solomon's threescore valiant men about him. Time 
was when thou wast afraid to sleep, lest thou shouldst awake 
in hell. Now thou mayest say with David, " I will both lay 
me down in peace, and sleep ; for thou, Lord, only makest 
me to dwell in safety." Psa. 5:8. Now, come life, come 
death, the soul is safe ; the peace of God is its royal guard. 

(2.) This peace is ease as well as safety to the soul, it is 



280 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE BOOR. 

heart's-ease. No sooner does God speak peace to the con- 
science, than the soul finds itself at ease and rest: " AYe 
which have believed, do enter into rest." Heb. 4:3. It is 
with such a soul as it was with the dove Noah sent out of 
the ark : that poor creature wandered in the air as long as 
her wings could carry her ; had her strength failed, there 
was nothing but the waters to receive her. how sweet 
was rest in the ark ! 

(3.) This peace is news from heaven, and the sweetest 
tidings that ever blessed the sinner's ear, next to Christ. 
The blood of Christ speaketh better things than that of 
Abel, Heb. 12 : 2-i ; and you are come to this blood of 
sprinkling, as soon as Christ comes into your soul. This is 
the voice of that blood : " Thou hast sinned, I have satisfied ; 
thou hast kindled the wrath of God, and I have quenched 
it." The angels of heaven cannot fare better : their joys 
are not more sweet than those prepared for believers are, 
whereof this is a foretaste. Whatever trouble a man may 
be in, this effectually relieves him. Paul and Silas were in 
sad circumstances, shut up in the inner prison, their feet 
made fast in the stocks, their cruel keepers at the door, 
and their execution expected in a few days : God did but 
set this dish upon the table before the prisoners, and they 
could not Ion \g at the feast. Acts 16:25. 

3. After pardon and a third blessing will come, 

namely, joy in the Holy Ghost. This is somewhat beyond 
peace, it is the very quintessence and spirit of all consola- 
tion. The kingdom of God is said to consist in it, Rom. 
14 : 17 ; it is somewhat like the joy of the glorified, 1 Pet. 
1:8; it is heaven upon earth. All believers do not imme- 
diately attain it, but one time or other God usually gives 
them a taste of it; and when he does, it is as it wei 
realization of full salvation. 0, who can tell what that is 
which the apostle calls, the shedding abroad of the love of 
God in the heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us ? 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 281 

Rom. 5:5. It is a joy that wants an epithet to express its 
full sweetness : " Joy unspeakable, and full of glory." 1 Pet. 
1:8. It has the very taste of heaven in it, and there is 
but a difference of degrees between it and the joy of heaven. 
This joy of the Holy Ghost is a spiritual cheerfulness stream- 
ing through the soul of a believer from the Spirit's testi- 
mony, which proves his interest in Christ and glory. No 
sooner doth the Spirit shed forth the love of God into the 
believer's heart, than it overflows with joy. 

This will appear, if you consider the matter of it : it 
arises from the light of God's countenance, Psa. 4 : 6, 7, the 
heavenly glory : " Whom having not seen, we love." 1 Pet. 
1:8. The soul is transported with joy, ravished with the 
glory and excellency of Christ. Didst thou ever see Christ 
with whom thy soul is so delighted ? No, I have not seen 
him ; yet my soul is transported with love to him, " whom 
having not seen, we love." But if thou never sawest him, 
how comes thy soul to be so delighted with him ? Why, 
though I never saw him by the eye of sense, I do see him 
by the eye of faith ; and by that sight my soul is flooded 
with spiritual joy: " Believing, we rejoice." But what 
manner of joy is it which you taste ? No tongue can 
express that, for it is joy unspeakable. But how are Christ 
and heaven turned into such joys to the soul? The Spirit 
of the Lord gives the believer a sight to discern not only the 
transcendent excellency of these spiritual objects, but his in- 
terest in them also. This is my Saviour, and this the glory 
prepared for me. Without appropriation, heaven itself can- 
not be turned into joy. My soul rejoices in God my Saviour. 
Luke 1 : 47. We read of some who shall have a sight of 
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the 
kingdom of God, and yet shall be without joy, Luke 13 : 28 ; 
a dreadful sight to such, for want of a joint interest with 
them in that glory. They shall see, and yet weep and gnash 
their teeth, But an interest sealed gives joy unspeakable 



282 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOH. 

As to the excellency of this joy, it will prove the pleas- 
ant light of the soul. Light and joy are synonymous terms 
in Scripture. Psa. 97 : 11. It is as the cheerful light of the 
morning, after a sad and dismal night. You who have sat 
in darkness and the shadow of death, who have sat mourn- 
ing in the dark without one glimpse of a promise, who have 
conversed with nothing hut dismal thoughts of hell and 
wrath — 0, 1 shall he cast away for ever ; what will you say, 
when after all this darkness, the day-star shall arise in your 
hearts, and the joy of heaven shall beam upon your souls ? 
Will not this be a glorious reward for all your self-denial for 
Christ, and fully recompense the frowns of ungodly relations 
for giving entertainment to Christ ? This joy of the Lord, 
if there were no other heaven, is an abundant recompense. 
This joy of the Lord shall be your strength. Neh. 8: 10. 
Let God but give a person a little of this joy into his heart, 
and he shall presently feel himself strengthened by it, either 
to do or to suffer the will of God. Now he can pray with 
enlargement, hear with comfort, meditate with delight ; and 
if God call him to suffer, this joy shall strengthen him to 
bear it. This it was that made the martyrs go singing to the 
stake. This therefore transcends all the joys of the world. 
There are sinful pleasures which men find in fulfiiling their 
lusts ; there are sensitive joys that men find in the good 
creatures of God, filling their hearts with food and gladness ; 
there are also delusive joys, that hypocrites find in their 
ungrounded hopes of heaven. The joys of the sensualist are 
brutish, the joys of the hypocrite are ensnaring and vanish- 
ing ; but the joys of the Holy Ghost are solid, sweet, and 
leading to the fulness of everlasting joy. 

4. ^Ye read in Scripture of the sealing of the Spirit, a 
blessed privilege of believers, consequent upon believing : 
" In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with 
that Holy Spirit of promise." Eph. 1 : 13. This may bo 
expected by every soul that opens to Christ, how rich soever 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 28o 

the comforts of it be. The Spirit indeed seals not before 
faith, for then would he set his seal to a blank; but he 
usually seals after believing, and that as the Spirit of prom- 
ise. Notice here the agent or person sealing, "the Spirit ;' 
he knows the counsels and purposes of God. 1 Cor. 2 : 10, 11. 
He also is authorized to this work ; and being the Spirit of 
truth, he cannot deceive us. There is a twofold seal spoken 
of in Scripture ; one referring to God's eternal foreknowledge 
and choice of men: "Nevertheless the foundation of God 
standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that 
are his," 2 Tim. 2:19; he perfectly knows every soul that 
belongs to him throughout the world. But the believer has 
more than this. There is another sealing of the Spirit, as 
his act on believers, to make them know that they are his. 
The first is general, The Lord knoweth who are his ; but 
this is particular, The Lord knoweth thee to be his. This is 
joyful news indeed. The former makes it sure in itself, the 
latter makes it sure to us. Now this is a glorious privilege, 
a work of the Spirit, which has a most delightful sweetness 
in it ; for, 

(1 ) The weightiness of the matter sealed, which is no 
less than Christ, and the eternal inheritance purchased by 
his blood. This seal secures our title to Christ, and to the 
eternal glory. We are sealed to the day of redemption. 
The sealed believer can say, Christ, how great, how glorious 
soever he be, is my Saviour ; and the covenant of grace, and 
all the invaluable promises contained in it, are mine. 

(2.) The rest which follows it, makes it an invaluable 
mercy. This brings the anxious conscience to peace. 
what a mercy is it to have all those knots untied, those 
objections answered, those fears banished, under which the 
doubting soul so long labored, and which kept it so many 
nights waking and restless. God only knows how some 
poor creatures live, under their alarms of conscience and 
frequent fears of hell. And what an inconceivable mercy 



284 OHRiST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR,. 

would it be to them to be delivered at once from their dan 
gers and fears, which hold them under a spirit of bondage ! 
Open to Christ, and thou art in the way to such a deliver- 
ance : Come unto me and I will give you rest, saith Christ, 
Matt. 11 : 2S, 29. 

(3.) This sealing of the Spirit which follows believing, 
will establish the soul in Christ, and settle it in the ways 
of God, which is an unspeakable privilege : " Now he which 
establisheth us with you in Christ, is God ; who hath also 
sealed us." 2 Cor. 1:21, 22. Mark how establishment 
follows sealing. Temptations may come, great persecu- 
tions and sore afflictions may come, but how well is that 
soul provided for them all, that has the sealing of the Spirit 
unto the day of redemption. Yea, though that soul should 
for the present be under new darkness, temptations, and 
fears, the former sealing will give establishment and relief, 
when the thoughts go back to the sealing day, and the man 
remembers how clear God once made his title to Christ. 
Well then, open to Christ, if ever you expect to be sealed 
to salvation. If you continue to reject the tenders of Christ 
in the gospel, while others who embrace him are sealed to 
the day of redemption, your unbelief and final rejection of 
Christ will seal you to the day of damnation. 

5. We read in the Scriptures of the earnest of the 
Spirit ; this is three times mentioned : " "Which is the 
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the pur- 
chased possession." Eph. 1 : 14. The apostle Paul joins it 
with the former privilege of sealing : " Who hath also sealed 
us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," 
2 Cor. 1 : 22 ; and again, " He that hath wrought us for 
the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the 
earnest of the Spirit." 2 Cor. 5 : 5. The word is originally 
Syriac ; the Greeks are supposed to have got it from the 
Phenieian merchants with whom they traded, and it denotes 
a part paid in hand to confirm a bargain for the whole. An 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 285 

earnest is part of the sum, or inheritance : if it were a con- 
tract for a sum of money, it was a small part of a greater 
amount ; if for an inheritance, the earnest is taking a twig, 
or turf, as a part of the whole. The Spirit of Grc\i chooses 
this word to signify two great things to his people. 

(1.) That the comforts communicated by the Spirit to 
believers, are of the same kind icilh the joys of heaven, 
though in a far inferior degree. They are called, " Joy 
unspeakable, and full of glory," 1 Pet. 1:8; and, "The 
first-fruits of the Spirit." Rom. 8 : 23. The first-fruits, 
and the harvest, are one in kind ; there is something of 
heaven, as well as hell, tasted by men in this world : hell is 
begun here in the terrors of some men's consciences, and 
heaven is begun here in the peace and comfort of other 
men's consciences. 

(2.) As an earnest is part of the sum or inheritance, so 
the use of it is confirmation and security ; as much as to 
say, take this in part till the whole be paid — take it for thy 
security that the whole shall be paid. Believers have a 
double pledge or earnest for heaven : one in the person of 
Christ, who is entered into that glory for them, John 
14 : 2, 3 ; the other in the joys and comforts of the Spirit, 
which they feel and taste in themselves. These are two 
great securities, and the design of God in giving us these 
earnests and foretastes of heaven, is not only to settle our 
minds, but to increase our industry, that we may long more 
earnestly and labor more diligently for the full possession. 
The Lord sees how apt we are to flag in the pursuit of 
heaven, and therefore gives his people a taste, or earnest of 
it, to excite their diligence in its pursuit. God deals with 
his people in this case, as with Israel : they had been forty 
years in the wilderness ; many sore temptations had they 
there encountered ; at last they came upon the very borders 
of Canaan, but then their hearts began to faint ; there were 
Anakims, giants in the land, and Israel feared they should 



286 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

not stand before them : but Joshua sent spies into the land, 
who brought the first fruits of Canaan to them, whereby they 
saw what a goodly country it was ; and then the fear of the 
Anakims began to vanish, and a spirit of courage to revive 
in the people. Thus it is even with the borderers upon 
heaven : though we are near that blessed land of promise, 
our hearts are apt to faint on a prospect of the sufferings 
without us, and the conflicts with corruptions within us; 
but one taste of the first-fruits of heaven, like the grapes 
of Eschol, revives our spirits, rouses our zeal, and quickens 
our pursuit of blessedness. For these reasons, God will 
not have all heaven reserved till we come thither. And 
now tell me, you that have tasted these first-fruits of the 
Spirit, 

Is there not something of that glorified eye, in faith, by 
which the pure in heart see God in heaven ? Matt. 5:8. 
that eye of faith — that precious eye, which comes as near 
to the glorified eye as any thing in this imperfect state can 
do : " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in whom, though 
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy un- 
speakable and full of glory." 1 Pet. 1:8. 

Is there not something of that glorified love felt in an 
inferior degree by the saints in this world ? What else can 
we make of that transport of the spouse : " Stay me with 
flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am sick of love?" 
Sol. Song 2 : 5. Our love to God in heaven will be much 
more fervent, pure, and constant ; yet these high-raised acts 
of spiritual love have a taste and relish of it. 

Is there not something here of that heavenly delight 
wherewith the glorified rejoice in God ? As the visions of 
God are begun on earth, so heavenly delights are begun here 
also. Some drops of that delight are let fall here : "In the 
multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight 
my soul." Psa. 94:19. David's heart had been full ol 
sorrow ; a sea of gall and wormwood had overflowed his 



THE 3-OSPEL FEAST. 

soul : God lets fall but a drop or two of heavenly delight, 
and all is turned into sweetness and comfort. 

Is there not something here of that transformation of 
the soul into the image of God, which is complete in heaven, 

and a part of the glory thereof? It is said, " We shall he 
like him ; for we shall see him as he is." 1 John, 3 : 2. 
This is heaven, to have the sonl moulded into full conform "ly 
with God : something thereof is experienced in this world , 
that we had more ! " But we all, with open face behold- 
ing as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the 
same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." 
2 Cor. 3 : 18. 

Is there not something felt here of the siveetness of God's 
presence in ordinances and duties, which is a faint shadow, 
at least, of the joys of his glorious presence in heaven ? 
There is certainly a felt presence of God, a sensible nearness 
to God at some times and in some duties of religion, wherein 
his name is as ointment poured forth, Sol. Song 1 : 3 — some- 
thing that is felt above all the comforts of this world. 

In a word, the joys of heaven are unspeakable joys ; no 
words can make known what they are. When Paul was 
caught up into paradise he heard unspeakable words, 2 Cor. 
12:4; and are there not times, even in this life, wherein 
the saints do feel that which no words can express ? 1 Pet. 
1:8; Rev. 2:17. 

Now, if such earnests of the Spirit come with believing, 
if opening the soul to Christ bring it unto these suburbs of 
heaven, who w r ould not receive Christ into his soul, and such 
a heaven upon earth with him ? Thus I have showed you 
what are some of those heavenly joys which Christ gives to 
believers upon earth, the fulness of which is reserved for 
heaven, and hereby secured to the opening or believing soul. 

IV. We shall show the reasons why Christ thus feasts 
and refreshes the soul that receives him. 

1 . This he does to express the great joy he has in the 



288 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

faith and obedience of sinners. We read of the travail of 
Christ's soul, and the satisfaction he has in the fruit and 
issue thereof: " He shall see of the travail of his soul, and 
shall he satisfied." Isa. 53 : 11. what pleasure and sat- 
isfaction doth it give him to "behold the eternal counsels of 
God and the travails of his soul brought to such a result ; 
there is no pleasure like it to the soul of Christ in this world. 
As it is satisfaction to a man to see a design upon which he 
has laid out many thoughts and much cost, at last happily 
finished ; or as it is to a woman to behold the fruit of her 
womb, to embrace and smile upon the child she travailed 
for ; so, and much more, it is to Christ : and therefore, as 
the Father of the prodigal manifested the joy of his heart 
for the return of his son by a feast and music, so does Christ 
here manifest the satisfaction of his soul by entertaining the 
believer with these foretastes of heaven ; it is the soul's 
welcome home to Christ. 

2. This Christ does to relieve distressed souls who have 
endured so many fears and sorrows from the time of their 
first conviction until the day of their union with Christ by 
faith. The way of faith is a very humble way ; there ii 
much painful work in previous convictions and humiliations, 
sad nights and days with many poor souls ; and these things 
bring them low : they see the law broken by sin, wrath 
hanging over them in the threatenings, the bitterness thereof 
they have in their consciences ; they have dealt with fears 
and horrors £ long time, and they need support, which the 
Lord Jesus now gives them, lest the spirit fail before him. 
Isa. 57 : 16. He delights to comfort them that are cast 
down. 2 Cor. 7 : 6. Christ is of a compassionate nature ; he 
is as ready as able to succor them that are tempted. Heb. 
2:18. The word which we render succor, signifies to run 
in by way of help at the cry of one in distress. Many em- 
phatical cries have gone up to heaven from the distressed 
soul ; these the compassionate Jesus hears, and now comes 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 

in to succor and refresh it ; he has rich cordials for fainting 
hours; the soul hath had a bitter breakfast, and therefore 
Christ will give it a comfortable supper : " I will come in 
to him, and sup with him." 

3 Those that open I heir hearts to Chris/, must expect 
to meet with great troubles and temptations in the new 
course on which they have entered : their way to heaven 
lies through much tribulation ; all our troubles are not over 
when we are once in Christ ; nay, then commonly our great- 
eat outward troubles begin: "After ye were illuminated, 
ye endured a great fight of afflictions." Heb. 10: 32. 
Carnal relations scoff, frown, and cast us off; the world 
hates us and marks us out for persecution. Now, that 
Christians may not utterly be discouraged when they meet 
with troubles in the way of duty, Christ will cheer them 
by these spiritual refreshments. Christ himself had a voice 
from heaven, " This is my beloved Son," Matt. 17 : 5, a 
little before his great combat ; much more do his people 
need such consolations, to support and encourage them 
God foresees and by this provision prepares for the troubles 
they are to meet with ; an hour of sealing fortifies the soul 
for an hour of suffering. It has been the observation of 
some Christians when they have felt more than ordinary 
comforts of the Spirit, that some great trial has bfien near 
them ; and the event has confirmed it. Whatever com- 
forts Christ gives his people at their first entrance into his 
service, they will have need enough of them all before they 
.finish their course. To these first sealings they will need tc 
have frequent recourse, and all will be little enough to sup- 
port them in after-trials. 

4. Christ comes in to the opening soul with such divine 
refreshments to defeat the plot of Satan, who has so often 
discouraged them by representing the ways of Christ as 
melancholy ; telling them they shall never laugh more, 
never be merry more, after they have espoused the ways of 

Christ Knocking:. 13 



290 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOO&. 

holiness. Their own experience shall confute it, for they now 
taste that pleasure in Christ, in faith and obedience, which 
they never tasted in the ways of sin ; thus that scandalous 
libel of Satan is confuted. They find they were never 
truly merry till now ; for all true mirth commences from 
our closing with Christ : " And they began to be merry. " 
Luke 15:24. 

These spiritual refreshments are here called a supper, 
because the supper among the Jews was their best meal, 
Luke 14 : 17, and because it is the last meal. This is not 
only the best enjoyment that a believer ever had, but upon 
these spiritual comforts, though much more refined and per- 
fected, he is to feed for ever in heaven. Christian, well 
mayest thou be contented with thine outward lot of provi- 
dence, however it shall fall in this world with respect to thy 
outward man. Will the King of heaven come and sup 
with thee ? Does he feed thy soul with pardon, peace, and 
joy in the Holy Ghost, and seal an earnest of future glory ? 
Then thou livest at a higher and nobler rate than any of 
thy carnal neighbors do. " Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Eph. 1 : 3. 
The same person who thus blesses God with a heart over- 
flowing with joy and comfort, endured as many persecutions, 
felt as many wants and straits as any man. What if Prov- 
idence do but meanly clothe your bodies, so that you cannot 
ruffle it in the splendor that others do ? Yet mayest thou 
say with the church, " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my 
soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with 
the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the 
robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with 
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." 
Isa. 61 : 10. What if thou fare not so deliciously as the 
great ones of this world do ? Yet, if Christ will give thee 
to eat of the hidden manna which he promiseth, Rev. 2 : 17, 



art thou not better clothed and fed than any of the uoblei 
01 cne wona .' 1ms takes away all grounds of complaint. 
It may be you will say, 0, but we bave bodies as well 
souls; if God had created us angels, so that we could live 
withoul materia] food, it were another case. I reply, Christ 
never thus intended to least thy soul and starve thy l>o<ly ; 
he that feeds thy soul with bread from heaven, will take 
care for all necessary provisions on earth. Isa. II : 17. You 
have Bought and found the kingdom of God and his right' 
ousness ; fear not but all other things shall be added to you. 

The doctrine before us is full of instruction : I shall 
begin with the following. 

Inference 1. It is a vile and groundless slander upon 
religion, to say or insinuate that it deprive* men of the 
comfort and joy of life. The devil, in design to discourage 
men from the ways of God, puts a frightful mask on the beau- 
tiful face of religion, pretending there is no pleasure to be 
expected therein ; but this is abundantly confuted in the text : 
" I will come in to him, and sup with him." Solomon tells 
us, " A feast is made for laughter." Eccl. 10:19. I am 
sure the soul that sits with Christ at such a feast as has 
been described above, has the best reason of any man in the 
world to be merry. Religion indeed denies us all sinful 
pleasure, but it abounds with spiritual pleasure. JNTo rational, 
solid mirth can come before Christ : the unsanctified rejoice 
in things of naught, and their joy will be soon ended; they 
are hastening to the place where they will find that to be 
verified of the wages of sin, which they now falsely impute 
to the wages of holiness ; they shall never rejoice more, 
never be merry more : but believers shall find this scripture 
attested by their daily experience : "Her ways are ways of 
pleasantness, and all her paths are peace," Prov. 3:17; 
and that there are such pleasures in the ways of God, as 
they never experienced in the ways of sin. Is it a solid 



292 CHRIST KNOCKING^ AT THE BOOK. 

ground o[ comfort to a man to "be out of debt and all fears 
of arrest ; and is it not much greater to have our debts paid 
to God by Christ our surety ? " Be of good cheer ; thy sins 
be forgiven thee." Matt. 9:2. Is it matter of joy to have 
a sufficiency of all things for the supply of every want ? 
He that is in Christ has this : " All are yours ; and ye are 
Christ's." 1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23. Is it a joyful life to border 
upon heaven, to be on the confines of blessedness itself? 
Then it is joyful to be in Christ ; for they that are so may 
rejoice in the hope of glory. Horn. 5:2. Is it matter of 
joy to have the Comforter himself, who is the Spirit of all 
consolation, taking up his residence hi thy heart, comforting 
and refreshing it with cordials unknown in all the unbeliev- 
ing world ? Then certainly the life of a Christian and the 
ways of holiness must be most comfortable. Let none 
therefore, that are looking towards Christ, be discouraged in 
their way by the slanderous reproaches designedly cast upon 
religion. Christ and comfort dwell together. 

2. Hence, hi like manner it follows, that Christians 
usually meet the greatest difficulties at their first entrance 
into religion. The first work of religion is wounding and 
weeping work. Thus religion usually begins. Acts 2:37; 
16 : 29. The soul seems to be struck dead, in the giving 
up of all its former vain hopes : " When the commandment 
came, sin revived, and I died," Rom. 7:9; but afterwards 
come pardon, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. They that 
go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, now come back 
rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them. Psa. 126 : 6. 
Now the blessing is realized: " Blessed are they that 
mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matt. 5 : 4. "Light 
is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in 
heart." Psa. 97 : 11. It is quite contrary in the ways of 
sin ; all the pleasures of sin come first, the terrors of con- 
science come after. Sin comes with smiles in its beginning, 
but a sting in its end. Pleasures lead the van, hell and 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 2\>'J 

destruction bring up the way. "Though wickedn< 

sweet in his mouth, though lie hide it under his tongue ; 
though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within 

his mouth ; yet his meat in his howrls is turned, it is the 
gall of asps within him." Job 20 : 12-1 l. But here 
viction and humiliation come first, these prepare the way lor 
Christ; and with him come rest and peace. Their sorrow 
is turned into joy. John 1G : 20. 

Objection. But is this alivays true ? Do not the worst 
tilings of religion many times come last? How man if 
Clirlstlans go out of the ivorld in an unhappy manner. 

Answer. Whatever the after-sufferings of Christians 
may be, the worst is past when they are in Christ. Great 
and sharp sufferings they may endure, but the Lord sweet- 
ens them with answerable consolations : "I am filled with 
comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation." 
2 Cor. 7:4. The lowest ebbs are followed by the highest 
tides ; the greatest troubles need not give interruption to 
peace. 

3. Hence it follows, that no man can be truly happy 
till he be in Christ. Comfort and refreshment in the natu- 
ral order follow faith ; it is the vainest imagination in the 
world to expect solid, spiritual comfort before union with 
Christ ; you may as well expect a harvest before a seed- 
time. I do confess there are two sorts of comforts found in 
the world without Christ. First, men may have sensitive 
and sinful comforts without Christ ; these are common in 
the unregenerate world, where you may daily see rich 
men taking comfort in their riches, and voluptuous men in 
their pleasures : " Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth. " 
James 5:5. But these are pleasures common to brutes, 
and beneath the immortal spirit of a man. Second, hypo- 
crites have their delights and comforts in an imaginary hap- 
piness, which they fancy to themselves ; but this is a van- 
ishing shadow. They take comfort from their groundless* 



294 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

hope of heaven, whither they shall never come ; it is a 
feast in a dream. Isa. 29 : 8. Thus they make a bridge of 
their own shadow, and are drowned in the waters. Such 
sensitive and false comforts and pleasures men may have, 
but no true, solid, spiritual joy enters any man's heart before 
Christ come into it. 

4. See from hence ivhat heaven is, if there be such a 
feast to the soul in the very foretastes of it. If a relish, a 
taste of heaven as the earnest of it, be so transporting and 
ravishing, what is the full fruition of God? If these are 
unutterable, what must that be ? Whatever the comforts 
and joys of any believer in this world may be, yet heaven 
will be a surprise to him when he comes thither. The joys 
of God's presence are not to be measured by our present 
comforts ; though these are of the same kind with them, 
they are far inferior in degree. There is a sixfold difference 
between the spiritual comforts of believers on earth, and 
the joys that are above. 

(1 .) They differ in quantity. Here, " we know in part ; 
but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is 
in part shall be done away." 1 Cor. 13:9, 10. When the 
Scripture speaks of the comforts communicated to saints on 
earth, it usually expresses them in some diminutive term or 
other, calling them first-fruits, earnests, and the like ; and 
indeed it is necessary we should receive them here in small 
degrees, because the weakness of our present state will not 
bear them in their plenitude and perfection. Here the joy 
of the Lord enters into us, but there we are said to enter 
into that joy. Matt. 25 : 21. It is too great to enter into 
us ; therefore we enter into, and are swallowed up in it. 

(2.) They differ in constancy. The best comforts on earth 
are intermitting : a sun-blast and a cloud ; a good day and 
a bad. You know we feed on two sorts of meat, daily 
bread and dainties ; rarities come not every day to the table. 
The daily bread on which believers live, is the repose and 



THE OOSPE 295 

reliance of faith; as ibr a and joy, these come but 

novv r and thdt*. 

(3.) They differ in purity. Here we have the comfort* 
of the Spirit, hut we mingle sin with them, and especially 

the sin of spiritual pride, which spoils all. Yea, many times 
the Lord sutlers Satan to mingle his temptations with them, 
lest w r e should be unduly exalted. 2 Cor. 12:7. But in 
heaven the comforts of the saints are as the pure water of 
life, clear as crystal. Rev. 22 : 1 . 

(4.) They differ in efficacy. The highest comforts of the 
Spirit here do not perfectly transform our souls into the 
image of God, as they will be in heaven. " We shall be 
like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John, 3 : 2. 
Here, after we are comforted by him, we grieve the Com- 
forter by sin. Neither do the comforts of the Spirit, in this 
state, produce the fruits of obedience in their maturity, as 
they do above ; there is the same difference in point of effi- 
cacy, as there is between the influence of the sunbeams in 
the winter months, and those in May and June. 

(o.) There is a great difference in respect to society. 
Here, the believer for the most part eats his pleasant mor- 
sels alone : one Christian eats, and another hungers ; but in 
heaven they all feast together at one table. They shall sit 
down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
God. Matt. 8:11. what must it be to rejoice in the 
fellowship of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, where the 
joy of one is the joy of all ? _ 

(6.) They differ also in durability. Sin here puts a stop 
to our comforts, but in heaven there shall never be an end : 
" Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads." Isa. 35 : 10. 
There is an eternal feast. It is everlasting consolation : 
"We shall be ever with the Lord " 2 Thess. 2 : 16. 

5. This doctrine puts serious matter of exhortation 
into my mouth. The Lord direct it to the hearts of all, 
whether they be in Christ or out of Christ. 



996 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE l)UOii. 

(1.) To those who are out of Christ, and will not be 
persuaded to open their hearts and consent to his terms. 
what a spiritual infatuation is here. What, shut the door 
of thy heart against Christ, and all the de^gnts of this and 
the coming world ? What madness is this. Hear me, thou 
poor deluded sinner, who wilt not be persuaded to part with 
thy sinful, sensual delights in exchange for Christ, and the 
peace, comfort, and joy that follow him. I have a few 
things to speak on Christ's behalf at this time. that they 
may prevail ; that by them the Spirit of the Lord may 
persuade thy spirit. Let me offer four or five pleas on 
Christ's behalf, if haply they may prevail and make way 
for his entertainment in thy soul. And, 

Plea 1. Let me plead thine own necessity : a mighty 
argument, which in other cases makes its way through all 
oppositions, and makes all difficulties fly before it. Thou 
art a poor, necessitous, pining, famishing soul ; however thy 
body be accommodated, thou hast not one morsel of spiritual 
bread for thy famishing soul to live upon. Christ is the 
bread that cometh down from heaven. The starving prod- 
igal is the lively emblem of thy soul ; he feeds upon husks, 
Luke 15:16, 17, and thou feedest upon that which is not 
bread. Isa. 55 : 2. " Thou art wretched, and miserable, 
and poor, and blind, and naked." Rev. 3:17. Thy body 
has often been filled and refreshed with the good creatures 
of God, but thy soul never tasted one morsel of spiritual 
bread since it came into thy body ; it never relished the 
sweetness of a pardon, the deliciousness of a promise, or the 
joy and comfort of Christ : the choicest food thou hast ever 
tasted, was such as thy soul cannot live upon. 

Plea 2. Christ is at the door of thy soul with plenty 
and variety of heavenly comforts purchased by his blood ; 
if thou wilt but open to him, thou shalt be abundantly sat- 
isfied with the fatness of his house, and drink of the rivers oi 
his pleasure. Psalm 36:8. "He that belie veth on me, as 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 2<J7 

the scripture hath said, out of hii belly shall flow rivers of 
hying water," John 7 : 38 ; meaning the graces and com- 
forts of the Spirit. 

Plea 3. If Chris/ be refused i may never taste 

those invaluable mercies for ever. "For 1 say unto you, 
that none of those men which were hidden shall taste of 
my supper." Luke 14 : 24. They were invited to this 
feast, and so are you ; they refused to come, God grant that 
you may not ; for methinks this sentence of Christ, " Those 
men which were bidden shall not taste of my supper," is 
like a sentence on a malefactor that is to be hanged in 
chains, wdiom the law permits none to relieve. 0, it will 
be dreadful to see the saints sitting at the royal feast in 
heaven, and yourselves shut out like starving beggars stand- 
ing in the streets and about the doors where the marriage- 
supper is kept : they see the lights, they behold the rich 
dishes carried up, they hear the mirth and music of tho 
guests, but not a bit comes to their share. 

Plea 4. The refusal of Christ's invitation, as it is the 
greatest of all sins, icill be avenged ivith the greatest pun- 
ishment. It is said of those guests that w T ere bidden, that 
they made light of it, Matt. 22 : 5 ; but it fell heavy upon 
them : " He was wroth, and he sent forth his armies and 
destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city." Ver. 7. 
Beware of making light of Christ. 

Plea 5. What vain things are all those pleasures of 
sin, for the sake of which you deprive your souls of the ever- 
lasting comforts Jesus Christ can give. Deluded soul, it is 
not the intent of Christ to rob thee of comfort, but to ex- 
change thy sinful for spiritual delights, to thy unspeakable 
advantage. True, you can have no more pleasure in sin ; 
but instead of that, you shall have peace with God, joy in 
the Holy Ghost, and solid comforts for evermore. What are 
the sensitive or sinful pleasures of the world ? You have 
the total sum of them in 1 John, 2 : 16, 17 : " All that is in 

13* 



293 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the 
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And 
the world passeth away, and the lusts thereof; but he that 
doeth the will of God, abideth for ever." 

Question. But how may a 'poor unregenerate soul be 
prevailed upon to make such a blessed exchange as to part 
with the pleasures of sin for the blessings of Jesus Christ? 

Answer. Besides all that has been offered before, let me 
briefly add three counsels to such a soul. 

Labor to feel thy need of Christ, and then thou wilt 
quickly be willing to give up all the pleasures of sin for the 
enjoyment of him. What makes men so tenacious of their 
lusts, so hard to be persuaded to give up their sinful pleas- 
ures, but this, that they never felt the need of a Saviour ? 
0, sinner, didst thou but feel thy need of Christ, wert thou 
but hungry and thirsty for him, thou wouldst never stand 
upon such trifles for the enjoyment of him. We read, in the 
famine of Jerusalem, how they parted with their pleasant 
things for bread to relieve their souls ; jewels, rings, brace- 
lets, things which cost dear and were highly valued at 
another time, were now willingly parted with for bread. 
Christ is more necessary to thee than thy necessary food. 

Consider the spiritual and immortal nature of thy soul 
which cannot live, upon material things, and must outlive 
all temporal things. If thy soul cannot live upon them, 
and must certainly outlive them, what a miserable condition 
will it unavoidably fall into, when all these sensual and sin- 
ful enjoyments are vanished and gone, as thou knowest they 
shortly will be. These things pass away, 1 John, 2:17, 
and then has thy soul nothing to live upon to all eternity. 

Hearken to the experiences of the saints, who have tried 
both sorts of pleasure, which you never did. They have 
tried the pleasures of sin, and they have tasted the pleasures 
of Christ, and so are able to give a true judgment on both ; 
and they have accordingly determined, that one glimpse of 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 299 

the light of God's countenance puts more gladness into their 
hearts, than in the time that their corn and wine increased. 
Psalm 4:6, 7. Nay, the wisest Christians, on trial of both, 
have rightly determined, that the worst things in religion 
are infinitely to be preferred to the best things belonging to 
sin ; the very sufferings and afflictions of the people of G od 
have been pronounced better than the pleasures of sin for a 
season. Heb. 1 1 : 25. Could you but see with their eyes, 
and were you capable of making a right judgment as they 
did, there would not need a word more to persuade you to 
deny your most pleasant lusts, in exchange for Christ and 
his beneficial sufferings. 

(2.) The doctrine also affords various exhortations to the 
regenerate ■, who have opened their hearts to Christ, and are 
thereupon admitted into this comfortable state. It is found 
in experience a difficult thing, for souls after conversion to 
bear their own comforts, as it was to rightly manage their 
troubles at conversion. My business here is to advise souls 
under the first operations of the Spirit, how to improve their 
spiritual comforts, that they may abide with them and be 
growing continually in their souls. 

Advice 1 . See that you humbly admire and adore the 
condescending goodness of God to you, in all the comforts 
of the Sjririt which refresh you. that God should com- 
fort such a, soul as thine, that has so often grieved him — 
that Christ should be a joy to thee, who hast been a sorrow 
to him. In Paul's epistle to the Ephesians you will find the 
spirit of the apostle filled with admiration of this mercy, 
which breaks forth into this rapturous expression : " Blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath 
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in 
Christ." Eph. 1:3. Some never enjoy an ordinary de- 
gree of earthly comforts, Job 30 : 3-5 ; others enjoy abun- 
dance of earthly, but no spiritual comforts. Psalm 17 : 14. 
There are others for whom God intends everlasting consola- 



30.0 CHltlST KNOCKING AT THE BOOR. 

tion in the world to come, who are kept low as to spiritual 
comforts in this world. Psalm 88 : 15. What cause have 
you to admire the bounty of God to you, for whom there is 
not only fulness of joy prepared in heaven, but such pre- 
cious foretastes and earnests of it communicated in the way 
thither. 

Advice 2. Cleave fast to Christ and those duties of 
religion in which you have found the best comforts that 
ever your soids knew. This is one thing God intends in the 
communication of these spiritual refreshments, to attach 
your souls fast to the ways of holiness. The Lord knows 
that temptations will befall you ; discouragements enough 
you will be sure to meet with ; but the enjoyments of God, 
which you have met with in prayer and hearing, in medita- 
tion and sacraments, should engage your hearts for ever to 
the ways of obedience. You never found that sweetness in 
the ways of sin which you have found in repentance and 
faith. "When a temptation comes baited with sinful pleas- 
ures, think of Jotham's parable of the trees, and of the 
answer of the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine, Judges 
9 : 8-13, and say, in reference to thy spiritual enjoyments, 
Shall I leave such soul-refieshing comforts as these for the 
pleasures of sin? God forbid. 

Advice 3. Communicate the spiritual comforts yau 
enjoy, for tlic benefit and refreshment of others. The Lord 
never intended you should engross the comforts of his Spirit 
to yourselves, nor eat your pleasant morsels alone. He 
comforts us, that we may be able to comfort them that are 
in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are 
comforted of God. 2 Cor. 1:4. It is true, religion lays 
not all open; nor yet does it conceal all. There needs a 
great deal of wisdom, humility, and caution to secure us 
from pride and vanity in spirit, while we communicate our 
comforts to others. Both ostentation and self- appropriation 
of our comforts are against scripture law ; he may be justly 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. ^Ul 

suspected that opens all, and so may he too that conceals 
all. Spiritual comforts are not diminished, but improved by 
a wise and humble communication. 

Advice 4. Be frequent in renewing the acts and t 
rises of faith. Your first faith brought in your first com- 
fort ; your renewing and repeating those precious acts of 
faith, will bring you in greater stores of comfort than you 
yet enjoy. We are not to look upon faith as a single, but a 
continued act : " To whom coming as unto a living stone. " 
1 Pet. 2 : 4. Thy soul, Christian, is to be in a continua. 
motion towards Christ ; the more you believe, the more you 
will rejoice. You see the door through which comfort comes 
into your soul. Joy is the daughter of faith, Rom. 15:13; 
your present comfort is the first offspring of faith ; but there 
are many comforts more which will yet be born to your 
souls, if unbelief prevent it not. 

Advice 5. Take heed that you be not a grief to Christy 
who hath already brought so much comfort to you. It will 
be a sad requital if, after he hath given you the joys of 
heaven to drink, you shall give him that which is as worm- 
wood and gall ; the Lord write that caution upon thy soul : 
" Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed 
unto the day of redemption." Eph, 4 : 30. The argument 
of the apostle in this place strongly infers caution from com- 
fort. Christ hath been all joy, all peace, rest, and comfort 
to you ; take heed you be not a grief and shame to him. 
The intermission of thy duties, the falling of thy affections 
in duties, thy rash adventures upon sin, will be a grief to 
the heart of Christ, who hath filled thy heart with so much 
comfort ; and if you grieve him, you cannot expect he 
should comfort you. A little sin may rob you of a great 
deal of comfort. 

Advice 6. Be not dejected if the first comforts Christ 
gives you should afterwards abate, or be taken aicay for a 
time. This is a common thing in the experience of most 



302 v,HRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

Christians. You must not think your first comforts are such 
fixed, settled things, that there is no hazard of losing them , 
alas, nothing is more liable to change than the joys of a 
Christian. You will be apt to lose your first love, Rev. 2:4; 
and if you lose your first love, no wonder that you lose your 
first comforts. Yet if it should so fall out, be not cast down 
and discouraged ; Christ is not gone, though comfort be 
gone ; and though comfort be gone, it is not gone for ever ; 
renew thy repentance, faith, and obedience, and try if God 
will not renew thy comfort. There is a former and a latter 
spring of joy ; God will make thy comforts spring again. 
Besides, thy justification is steadfast, though thy consolation 
is not so. There are two things which belong to a Chris- 
tian : one to his being, namely, union with Christ ; another 
to his well-being, namely, comfort from Christ. The latter 
is contingent, the former fixed and steadfast. 

Advice 7. Be filled with compassion to others who lack 
the comforts you enjoy, especially such as God has united 
to you as natural relations. Art thou a father or mother, 
to whom God has given the comforts and soul-refreshments 
that have been opened in this discourse ? And hast thou 
no compassion for thy children, who never yet tasted one 
drop of these spiritual consolations ? It will do a man little 
g'ood to be feasted abroad, while his wife and children are 
starving at home. Say to them as Paul, in another case, 
" I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear 
me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, 
except these bonds." Acts 26 : 29. Religion creates bowels 
of compassion. tell them what sweetness there is in the 
ways of godliness ; counsel, plead, and pray that those who 
are yours may also be Christ's. 

Advice 8. As ever you expect the continuance and 
enlargement of your comforts, see that you ivalk circum- 
spectly. It is as much as all your comfort is worth to give 
way to a little carelessness. That is a remarkable expression 



THE GOSPEL FEAST. 303 

of the psalmist, " I will hear what God the Lord will speak ; 
for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints : 
but let them not turn again to folly." Psalm 85 : 8. Sin, 
in this text, is fitly called folly ; for indeed it is the greatest 
folly and madness in the world to divest ourselves of such 
sweet peace and comfort by returning to sin, which has cost 
us so much sorrow before. Are you willing to be in your 
former darkness and troubles — to exchange the pleasant 
light you now enjoy for the horrors you formerly felt ? This 
you must do, if you return again to folly. 

Advice 9. Long for heaven, where is the fulness of 
those joys of which these you noiv taste are hut the earnest 
and first-fruits. One design of God in giving them, is to 
set us a longing after heaven, to help our conceptions, and 
raise our affections : if these be so sweet, what must those 
be ? " Ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the 
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting 
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Rom. 
8 : 23. We are not to sit down satisfied, and say we have 
enough of these first-fruits ; they are given to make us long 
after the fulness of those enjoyments. This answers God's 
end in giving. 

Advice 10. Improve every spiritual comfort you have 
from Christ to greater cheerfulness in the paths of obedi- 
ence to Christ. This is another end for which God com- 
municates them, that our souls being refreshed by them, we 
might move the more nimbly in the paths of duty. " I will 
run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge 
my heart." Psalm 119:32. God expects that you pray 
more frequently, meditate more delightfully, and perform 
every duty more cheerfully; this is the way to perpetuate 
your comforts. How many Christians go on droopingly in 
the ways of duty for want of the encouragements you 
enjoy. 



304 CHRIST MOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

CHAPTER XL 

COMMUNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEV 
ERS ON EARTH 

"I WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND Hh 
WITH ME. n Rev. 3 : 20. 

We have lieard the first argument of Christ to persuade 
the hearts of sinners to open to him, that he will come in to 
them, and that not empty-handed ; he will also sup with 
them. And, to make the encouragement complete and full, 
he here adds, "and he with me." This last clause sets 
forth that spiritual, soul-refreshing communion which is 
between Christ and believers, begun in this world, com- 
pleted and perfected in the world to come. Hence our 
eleventh doctrine is, 

There is a mutual, sweet, and intimate commwiion 
betiveen Jesus Christ and believers in this ivorld. 

Communion with Christ is frequent in the lips of many 
men, but a hidden mystery to the souls of most men. This 
atheistical age scoffs at and ridicules it as enthusiasm and 
fanaticism ; but the saints find such a reality and incompar- 
able sweetness in it, that they would not part with it for ten 
thousand worlds. When the Roman soldiers entered the 
temple at Jerusalem, and found no image there, as they used 
to have in their own idolatrous temples, they gave out in a 
jeer that the Jews worshipped the clouds. Thus ungodly 
men scoff at the most solemn and sweetest part of internal 
religion as a mere fancy ; but the thing is real, sure, and 
sensible. If there be truth in any thing, there is truth in 
this, that there is real intercourse between the visible and 
invisible world, between Christ and the souls of believers, 
which we here call communion. " Truly our fellowship is 
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 John, 



COMMUNION WITH (JURIST. 

1:3. It is really and truly so; we impose not upon tne 
world, we tell you no more than we hare felt. The life of 
Enoch is called his walking with God. Gea. 5:24. O 

sweet and pleasant walk ; ah pleasures, nil joys are in that 
Walk with God. " Blessed is the people that know the joy- 
ful sound ; they shall walk, Lord, in the light of thy coun- 
tenance." Psalm 89 : 15. The joyful sound there spoken 
of was the sound of the trumpet which called the people to 
the solemn assemblies, where they walked in the light of 
God's countenance, the sweet manifestations of his favor ; 
and because the world is so apt to suspect the reality and 
certainty of this doctrine, the apostle again asserts it : "Our 
conversation is in heaven." Phil. 3 : 20. We breathe 
below, but we live above ; we w r alk on earth, but our 
conversation is in heaven. To understand this doctrine, 
three things must come under consideration : what com- 
munion with Christ is ; that there is such a communion 
between him and believers ; and the excellency of this com- 
munion. 

I. What communion with Christ is, in the general 
nature of it. To open this, it must be considered that there 
is a twofold communion : a state of communion, and actual 
communion. The first is essential to the second ; we can 
have no actual communion with the Father, Son, or Spirit, 
till we be first brought into a state of communion. This 
state of communion is in Scripture called our felloivship or 
partnership with Christ : such a fellowship as merchants 
have in the same ship and cargo, where one has more and an- 
other less, but still a joint though unequal interest ; one lives 
in one kingdom, another in some other kingdom, but they 
are jointly interested in the same goods. This comparison 
must not be stretched beyond its intention, which is to show 
nothing but this, that Christ and believers are coheirs in 
the same inheritance. Hence they are called his fellows or 
equals : " God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 



306 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

gladness above thy fellows." Psalm 45 : 7. And again, 
" If children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with 
Christ." Rom. 8 : 17. Christ endows his people, gives 
them a title not only to himself, but to those good things 
purchased by him, yea, and the very glory he enjoys in 
heaven. " The glory which thou gavest me, I have given 
them." John 17:22. 

It is true, there are some things in Christ which are pe- 
culiar to himself, and incommunicable to any creature, as 
his eternity, equality with his Father, etc: neither have we 
fellowship in his mediatorial work ; we have the fruits and 
benefits of it, but no partnership with him in the glory and 
honor of it ; that is peculiarly his own : and though it is 
said in the Scriptures, that believers are " righteous as he is 
righteous," 1 John, 3 : 7, yet the meaning is not that they 
can justify others as Christ doth ; no, they are justified 
by him, but cannot communicate righteousness to others. 
But there are other things wherein there is a partnership 
between Christ and his people: they partake with him in 
the spirit of sanctification on earth, and glory in heaven; 
the same spirit of holiness which dwells in Christ without 
immunic him to the saints in measure: 

"He hath given us of his Spirit " 1 John, 4 : 13. And as 
Christ communicates his Spirit to the saints, so he oommu- 
niccj^ lory of heaven to them: not that they shall be 

as glorious in heaven as Christ is : no, lie will be known 
among the saints in b the sun is known from the 

stars. Thus briefly of the state of communion, which is 
called in Scripture our " being made nigh," Eph. 2 : 13, and 
indeed we must be mi m actually draw 

nigh. We must be put into a state oi" fellowship before we 
can have actual communion with God. 

its this state of communion, there is also an act- 
ual com which the saints have in this world with 
^he Father and the Son in the duties of religion. This is 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 307 

our supping with Christ, and he with us : and, for clearness' 
sake, I shall consider, 

Negatively, ivliat it is not; for I find persons are apt 
greatly to mistake in this matter, taking that for communion 
with God which is not so ; and here let it be noted : 

Communion ivith God does not consist in the bare per* 
formance of religious duties. I do not say that men may 
have communion with God in this world without duties ; it 
is a delusion of Satan to think so ; but I say, that commun- 
ion with God consists not in the mere performance of du- 
ties. Communion and duties of religion are two things, 
separable one from the other. Men may multiply duties and 
yet be strangers to communion with God in them ; even 
days of humiliation and fasting may be kept by souls that 
are estranged from communion with the Lord : " Speak unto 
all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When 
ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even 
those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me ?" 
Zech. 7:5; that is, Had your souls pure intentions and 
respect in those duties to my glory ? Had you communion 
with me, or I with you, in those duties ? Did you ever feel 
your souls in those days wounded for sin ? Or did you not 
fast out of custom ? God may be in men's mouths and at 
the same time far from their hearts. Jer. 12:2. Religious 
w r ords may flow out of men's lips when no religion touches 
their hearts, the inward powers of their souls ; you cannot 
therefore safely depend upon outward duties, Christ rejects 
this plea. Matt. 7 : 22. Get a better evidence of com- 
munion with God than this, or you will certainly come short 
of your expectation. I know you not, saith Christ; there 
was never any spiritual acquaintance between your souls 
and me ; I know you not in a way of approbation. 

Neither do all stirrings and icor kings of the affections 
in duties prove communion betiveen Christ and the soid; 
for it is possible, yea, common, to have the affections raised 



30S CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

by external motives in the duties of religion : this you see 
in that example, Ezek. 33 :32 : " Lo, thou art unto them as 
a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and 
can play well on an instrument ; for they hear thy words, 
but they do them not." The sweet modulation of the 
prophet's voice was like the skilful touch of a rare musical 
instrument, which in a natural way moved and excited 
their affections. Thus John's hearers rejoiced in his minis- 
try for a season. This is very apt to lead souls into a mis- 
take as to their condition. They distinguish not between the 
influences that come upon their affections from without, and 
those that are inward, divine, and spiritual. 

But to show, positively, what communion with God is, 
we must consider what things it presupposes in us ; and in 
what the nature of it consists. 

There are various things prercquired and presupposed to 
all actual communion with God in duties ; and where these 
things are wanting, men have no communion with him. 
They may have communion with his people and his ordi- 
nances, but not with God and Christ in them. 

(1.) Union with CJhrist is fundamentally necessary to 
all communion with him. All communion is founded in 
union ; and where there is no union, there can be no com- 
munion. The member receives nothing from the head un- 
less it be united to it; nor the branch from the root. "All 
are yours; and ye are Christ's." 1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23. Here 
is a vast possession, but all founded upon union ; union ter- 
minates in communion ; and the closer the union, the fuller 
is the communion. 

Before our union with Christ we are strangers to God, 
we live without God in the world, Eph. 2:12: it is in 
Christ that we are made nigh ; it is in the Beloved that we 
are accepted. While we are in the state of alienation from 
Christ, we have no more to do with the communications of 
y>y and y^zee, with tie seals and earnests of the Spirit, than 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. C09 

an Indian hath with the privileges of London. " If any 
man open to me, I will come in to him and sup with him, 
and he with me." 

(2.) Communion with God presupposes the habits of 
grace implanted in the soul by regeneration; a sound 
change of heart. No regeneration, no communion : " If we 
gay that we have fellowship with him, and walk in dark- 
ness, we lie, and do not the truth." 1 John, 1:6. The 
apostle gives the lie to such pretenders. " The Lord is nigh 
unto all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in 
truth," Psa. 145 : 18 ; the latter clause restrains all spiritual 
communion to upright souls : " For a hypocrite shall not 
come before him." Job 13 : 16. 

(3.) Communion with God not only supposes grace im- 
planted, but also implanted grace excited, grace in action. 
A man may have the habits of faith, love, and delight in 
him, and yet be without actual communion with God. A 
believer w r hen he is asleep, and performs no acts of grace, is 
in a state of communion with God ; but if he will have 
actual communion, his faith, love, and delight must be 
awakened ; they must not lie asleep in the habit. " When 
thou saidst, Seek ye my face ; my heart said unto thee, Thy 
face, Lord, will I seek." Psa. 27 : 8. It is in-order to actual 
communion with Christ that the church so earnestly begs 
fresh influences of the Spirit to excite her graces into action : 
"Awake, north wind ; and come, thou south; blow upon 
my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my 
beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." 
Sol. Song 4:16. And though believers are not so to wait for 
the influences of the Spirit as to neglect the outward means 
of engaging their hearts to approach unto God, Jer. 30 : 21, 
yet certainly it is the work of God's Spirit, and without him 
we can do nothing to any purpose. The seamen may trim 
the sails, weigh the anchor, and put all into sailing order , 
but till a °:ale come from heaven there is little or no motion. 



310 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

The same Spirit that plants the habits, excites the acts of 
grace. These three things therefore are prerequisites to aU 
communion with God. 

Now let us more directly consider in what this heav 

ENLY PRIVILEGE OF COMMUNION WITH GOD CONSISTS ] and 

generally it will be found to lie in a spiritual correspondence 
between Christ and the soul. God sends forth influences 
upon our souls, and we, by the assistance of his Spirit, make 
returns again unto God. Communion is a mutual action ; 
so in the text, "I will sup with him, and lie with me." 
We cry to God, and God answers that cry by the incomes 
of spiritual grace upon the soul : "In the day when I cried 
thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength 
in my soul." Psa. 138 : 3. More particularly, there are 
many ways wherein men have this spiritual correspondence 
or communion with God, as in the contemplation of his attri- 
butes, in the exercises of our graces in religious duties, and 
in his various providences. In all these the saints have 
communion with him. 

1. There is a sweet communion between God and his 
people, in the contemplation of the divine attributes, and 
the impressions God makes by them upon our souls while 
we meditate on them. 

(1.) Sometimes the Lord manifests to the souls of his 
people his immense greatness; the manifestation of which 
attribute makes an humbling impression upon the soul, and 
saints seem as nothing to themselves. Thus when Abraham, 
that great believer, considered the greatness cf the God with 
whom he had to do, that sight of God seemed to reduce 
him as it were into dust and ashes : " Behold now, I have 
taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust 
and ashes." Gen. 18 : 27. He looks upon himself as a 
heap of vileness and unworthiness ; so David, " When I 
consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers ; the moon and 
the stars, which thou hast ordained ; Lord, what is man, that 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 311 

thou art mindful of him?" Tsa. 8 : 3, 1 ; that is, When I 
consider what a great God the Creator of the world is, I am 
astonished that he should set his heart upon so vile a thing 
as man. When men compare themselves among them- 
selves, and measure themselves by themselves, their spirits 
are apt to swell with pride ; hut would they look up to God, 
as these holy men did, they would admire his condescension. 
And this is communion with God in the meditation of his 
immense greatness. 

(2.) The representation of the 'parity and holi?icss of 
God, working shame and deep abasement in the soul for the 
pollutions and sin that are in it, this is communion with 
God, and an excellent way of fellowship with him. Thus, 
when a representation of God in his holiness was made to 
the prophet, there were the seraphim, covering their faces 
with their wings and crying one to another, saying, " Holy, 
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of 
his glory." The effect this produced, or the return made by 
the prophet to this manifestation of God in his holiness, was 
deep abasement of soul for his unsuitableness to meet so 
holy a God : " Then said I, Woe is me ! for I am undone ; 
because I am a man of unclean lips." Isa. 6 : 3-5. This 
is communion with God in his holiness. Thus Job, who had 
stiffly defended his own integrity against men, when God en- 
ters the lists with him and he saw with what a great and 
holy God he had to do, cried out, Job 40 : 4, 5, " Behold, I 
am vile ; what shall I answer thee ? I will lay my hand 
upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not an- 
swer ; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further." That is, 
I am silent ; Lord, I have done : I could answer men, but I 
cannot answer thee ; thou art holy, but I am vile. 

(3.) There are sometimes representations of the goodness 
and mercy of God made to the souls of his people. When 
these produce an ingenuous melting of the heart into an hum- 
ble, thankful admiration, and a corresponding care of pleas- 



312 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

ing him in the ways of obedience, then have men commun- 
ion with God in his goodness. The goodness of God runs 
down to men in a double channel : to their bodies, in exter- 
nal providences ; and to their souls, in spiritual mercies. 
When the goodness of God, either way, draws forth the love 
and gratitude of the soul to the God of our mercies, then 
have we real communion with him. Thus Jacob : " And 
Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my 
father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto 
thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with 
thee : I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and 
of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant ; 
for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am 
become two bands." Gen. 32 : 9, 10. Ah, Lord, I see a 
multitude of mercies round about me, and the least of them 
is greater than I. So "David the king came and sat before 
the Lord, and said, Who am I, Lord God, and what is 
my house, that thou hafct brought me hitherto ? And yet 
this was a small thing in thine eyes, God ; for thou hast 
also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, 
and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of 
high degree. Yvliat can David speak more to thee V y 
1 Chron. 17 : 16-18. You see in these instances, what 
effects the goodness of God, even in inferior, outward mer- 
cies, produces in sanctified hearts. But, if you come to 
spiritual mercies, and ponder the goodness of God to your 
souls, in pardoning, accepting, and saving such sinful crea- 
tures as you have been ; this much more affects the heart, 
and overwhelms it with holy astonishment; as you see in 
Paul: I " was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and 
injurious; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly 
in unbelief: and the grace of our Lord Jesus was exceed- 
ing abundant." 1 Tim. 1 : 13, 14. So when pardoning 
grace appeared to Mary, that notorious sinner, into what a 
flood of tears, into what transports of love did the sight of 



COMxUtTNION WITH C111UST. 313 

mercy cast her soul ! She wept and washed her Saviour*! 
ieet with tears of joy and thankfulness. Luke 7:1 I. 

terrors of the law, no frights of hell melt the heart like the 
apprehensions of pardoning mercy. 

'4.) Sometimes special representations of the veracity 
avd faithfulness of God are made to his people, begetting 
trust and holy confidence in their souls ; then have men 
communion with God m his faithfulness. Thus, Hebrews 
13 : 5, 6, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." 
There is a discovery of the faithfulness of God ; and what 
follows upon this ? "So that w-e may boldly say, the Lord 
is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto 
me." Here is faithfulness in God, producing trust and con- 
fidence in the believer ; this is that reciprocation, that sweet 
fellowship and communion between God and a believer with 
respect to his fidelity. " Behold, God is my salvation ; I 
will trust and not be afraid." Isa. 12:2. And truly, 
friend, this is what the Lord justly expects from thee, even 
trust and confidence in him, thy steady dependence on him, 
in return for all the manifestations of his faithfulness to thee 
both in his word and providence. 

(5.) There are manifestations of the displeasure of God 
by the hiding of his face and the frowns of his providence : 
when these produce repentance and deep humiliation for 
sin, an unquietness, a restlessness of spirit till he restore his 
favor and manifest his reconciliation to the soul, even here 
also is a real communion between God and the soul. " Thou 
didst hide thy face, and I was troubled." Psa. 30 : 7. Kor 
will a gracious soul rest there, but will take pains to sue out 
a fresh pardon. " Make me to hear joy and gladness, that 
the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Restore 
unto me the joys of thy salvation." Psa. 51 : 8, 12. 

I cannot here omit to point out a great mistake even 
among God's own people : many of them understand not 
what communion there should be with God under the man- 

Chriet Knocking. 14 






314 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

ifestations of his displeasure for siii. They know the affec- 
tionate meltings of their souls into love and praise to be 
communion with God ; but that in the shame, grief, and 
sorrow produced in them by the manifestations of God's 
displeasure — that even in these things there may be com- 
munion with God, they understand not. But let me tell 
thee, that even such things as these are the choice fruits of 
the spirit of adoption, and that in them thy soul hath as 
real and beneficial communion with God, as in the greatest 
transports of spiritual joy. it is blessed to be before the 
Lord as Ezra was, after conviction of carelessness, and 
spiritual defilements ; saying with him, "0 my God, I am 
ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God." 
Ezra 9:6. Shame and blushing are as excellent signs of 
communion with God as the sweetest smiles. 

(6.) There are special contemplations of the omniscience 
of God, producing sincerity, comfort in appeals, and recourse 
to it in doubts of our own uprightness ; and this also is an 
excellent method of communion with God. First, when 
the omniscience of God strongly obliges the soul to sincerity 
and uprightness, as it did David : " If I say, Surely the dark- 
ness shall cover me ; even the night shall be light about 
me ; yea, the darkness hideth not from thee ; but the night 
shineth as the day : the darkness and the light are both alike 
to thee," Psa. 139: 11, 12, compared with Psa. 18: 23, 
11 I was also upright before him." The consideration that 
he was always before the eye of God was his preservative 
from iniquity, yea, from his own iniquity. Second, when 
it produces comforts in appeals to it, as it did to Heze- 
kiah : " I beseech thee, Lord, remember now how I have 
walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and 
have done that which is good in thy sight." 2 Kings, 20 : 3. 
So Job also appeals to this attribute : " Thou knowest that 
I am not wicked." Job 10 : 7. So did Jeremiah : "But 
thou, Lord, knowest me ; thou hast seen me, and tried 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 

my heart toward thee." Jer, L2 : :>. Third, when we hare 

roeour.se to it under douhtfl and feari as to cur own npright- 
ness. Thus did David : "Search me, God, and know my 
heart; try me, and know my thoughts : and see if the] 
any wicked way in me." Psa. 139 : 23, 24. In all these 

attributes of God, Christians have real and sweet commun- 
ion with him. 

2. The next method of communion with God Lb 
exercise of our graces in the duties of religion, such as 
prayer, hearing, and the sacraments ; in all which the 
Spirit of the Lord influences the graces of his people, and 
they return the fruits thereof in some measure to him. As 
God hath planted various graces in regenerate souls, so he 
hath appointed various duties to exercise and draw forth 
those graces ; and when they do so, then have his people 
sweet communion with him. And, 

(1.) To begin with the first grace that shows itself in the 
soul of a Christian, to wit, repentance, or sorrow for sin. 
In the exercise of this grace of repentance, the soul pours 
out itself before the Lord with much bitterness and broken- 
ness of heart, and spreads forth its sorrows, which are as so 
much seed sown ; and in return thereto the Lord usually 
sends an answer of peace. " I said, I will confess my trans- 
gression unto the Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity of 
my sin." Psa. 32 : 5. Here is a voice of sorrow sent up, 
and a voice of peace coming down, which is real commun- 
ion between God and man in the exercise of repentance. 

(2.) As there are seasons in duty wherein the saints 
exercise their repentance, and the Lord returns peace ; so 
likewise the Lord helps them in their duties to diQt faith, in 
return whereunto they find from the Lord inward sup- 
port, rest, and refreshment. " I had fainted, unless I had 
believed." Psa. 27 : 13. And ofttimes an assurance is 
given them of the mercies they have acted their faith about. 
1 John, 5 : 14. 



316 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

(3.) The Lord many times draws forth eminent degrees 
of our love to him in the course of our duties ; the heart is 
filled with love to Christ. The strength of the soul is 
drawn forth to Christ in love, and this the Lord repays in 
kind, love for love : "He that loveth me shall be loved of 
my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to 
him. My Father will love him, and we will come unto 
him, and make our abode with him." John 14: 21, 23. 
Here is sweet communion with God in the exercise of love. 
what enjoyment do Christians thus gain in their duties 
and exercise of graces ! 

(4.) To mention no more, in the duties of passive obe- 
dience Christians are enabled to exercise their patience, 
meekness, a?id long-suffering for Christ ; in return to which 
the Lord gives them the special consolations of his Spirit, 
double returns of joy : " The Spirit of glory and of God 
resteth upon them." 1 Pet. 4 : 14. The Lord strengthens 
them with fortitude, and with all might in the inner man, 
unto all long-suffering ; and the reward of that long-suffer- 
ing is joy fulness. Col. 1:11. 

3. Besides communion with God in the contemplation 
of his attributes, and graces exercised in the course of duties, 
there is another method of communion with God in the 
way of his providences ; for therein also his people walk with 
him. To give a view of this, let us consider providence in 
a fourfold aspect towards the people of God. 

(1.) There are afflictive providences and rebukes where- 
with the Lord chastens his children ; this is the discipline of 
his house : in answer whereunto, gracious souls return meek 
and childlike submission, a fruit of the Spirit of adoption ; 
they are brought to accept the punishment of their iniquities. 
And herein lies communion with God under the rod. This 
answer to the rod may not be made at once, for there is 
much stubbornness unmortified in the best hearts, Heb. 12:7, 
but this is the fruit it shall yield ; and when it doth, there 



COMMUNION W i m C : 

is real communion between God and the afflicted soul 
not Christians mistake the : if when God is smiting 

they are humbled, search their hearts, and bleu God fbi tho 
discoveries of sin made by their afflictions; if they ado 
his wisdom in timing, moderating, and choosing the rod ; ii 
they kiss it with childlike submission, and say, It is good 
for me that I have been afflicted, they have real communion 
with God, though it may be for a time without joy. 

(2.) There are times when providence straitens the 
people of God, when their waters of comfort ebb and i 
very low, and their wants pinch ; the soul then exercises in 
return filial dependence upon fatherly care, saying with 
David, " The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want," Psa. 
23 : 1 : it belongs to him to provide, and to me to depend ; 
I will trust my Father's care and love. Here now is sweet 
communion with God under pinching wants. The wants 
of the body enrich the soul ; outward straits are the occasion 
of inward enlargements. See, from hence, how good it is to 
have an interest in God as a Father, whatever changes of 
providences may come upon you. 

(3.) There are seasons wherein the Lord exposes his peo- 
ple to imminent dangers, when to the eye of sense there is 
no way of escape. When this produces trust in God, and 
resignation to the pleasure of his will, there is communion 
with God in times of distress and difficulty. Thus David, 
Psa. 56 : 3 : " What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee :" 
Father, I see a storm rising, thy poor child comes under his 
Father's roof for shelter ; for whither should a distressed 
child go but to his Father ? 

(4.) And then, as to the events of doubtful providences, 
when the soul resigns and leaves itself to the wise disposal 
of the will of God, as David in 2 Sam. 15 : 26 : " Here 
am I ; let him do to me as seemeth good in his sight :' this 
is real and sweet communion with God in his providences 
So much for the nature of communion with God 



318 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR,. 

II. I shall show the reality of communion with God, 
and prove it to be no fancy. I confess it grieves me to be 
put upon the proof of this, but the atheism and profaneness 
of the age we live in seem to make it necessary ; for many 
men will allow nothing for certain but what falls under the 
cognizance of sense. that they had their spiritual senses 
exercised ; then they would sensibly discern the reality of 
these things. But to put the matter out of question, I shall 
show the truth and reality of the saints' communion with 
God in divers ways. 

Evidence 1. From the saints' union with Christ. If 
there be a union between Christ and believers, then of 
necessity there must be communion between them also. 
Now the whole word of God which you profess to be the 
rule of your faith, plainly asserts this union between Christ 
and believers ; an union like that between the branches and 
the root, John 15 : 4, 5, or that between the head and the 
members, Eph. 4 : 16. Now, if Christ be to believers as 
the root to the branches, and as the head to the members, 
then of necessity there must be a communion between them ; 
for if there were not a communion, there could be no com- 
munications ; and if no communications, no life. It is by 
the communication of vital sap from the root and from the 
head, that the branches and members subsist and live. 

Evidence 2. There is a cohabitation of Christ with 
believers ; he dwells with them, yea, he dwells in them : 
" I will dwell in them, and walk in them." 2 Cor. 6 : 16. 
The soul of a believer is the temple of Christ ; yea, his liv- 
ing temple. 1 Pet. 2 : 5. And if Christ dwell in them and 
walk in them, then certainly there must be communion 
between him and them ; if they live together, they must 
converse together, A man indeed may dwell in his house, 
and yet cannot be said to have communion with it ; but the 
saints are a living house, they are the living temples of 
Christ ; and he cannot dwell in such temples capable of 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 3 j «j 

communion with him, and yet have no communion with 
them. 

Evidence 3. The reality of communion between God 
and the saints is undeniably evinced by the Spiritual nla- 
tions into which God has taken them. Every believer is 
the child of God and the spouse of Christ. God is the 
believer's Father, and the church is the Lamb's wife. 
Christ calls the. believer not only his servant, but his friend. 
" Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth 
not what his Lord doeth : but I have called you friends." 
John 15 : 15. Now, if God be the believer's Father, and 
the believer be God's own child, certainly there must be 
communion between them. If Christ be the believer's hus- 
band, and the believer be Christ's spouse, there must be com- 
munion between them. "What, no communion between the 
Father and his children, the husband and the wife ? We 
must either renounce and deny all such relation to him, 
and therein renounce our Bibles ; or else yield the conclu- 
sion that there is a real communion between Christ and 
believers. 

Evidence 4. The reality of communion with God ap- 
pears from the institution of the ordinances and duties of 
religion, to maintain daily communion between Christ and 
his people. As to instance but one institution, that of 
prayer — a duty appointed on purpose for the soul's meeting 
with God, and communion with him : " Draw nigh to God, 
and he will draw nigh to you." James 4:8. JNTow, to 
what purpose can such an ordinance be appointed for the 
soul's drawing nigh to God, and God to it, if there be no 
such thing as communion to be enjoyed with him ? If com- 
m.mion with God were a mere phantom, as the carnal 
world thinks it to be, what encouragement have the saints 
to bow their knees to the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ ? But surely there is an access to God in 
prayer : "In whom we have boldness, and access with con- 



320 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

fidence." Eph. 3 : 12. Access to what ? If God be not 
there, and there can be no communion with him, what 
means that access? ''And there I will meet with thee, 
and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat." 
Exod. 25 : 22. Duties had never been appointed, but for 
the sake of God's communing with us, and we with hint. 

Evidence 5. This is yet further proved from the mutual 
desires, both of Christ and his people to be in sweet and 
intimate communion one with the other. The Scripture 
speaks much of the saints 1 vehement desires after commun- 
ion v\ T ith Christ, and of Christ's desires after communion 
with the saints, and of both jointly. The saints' desires after 
communion with him are frequent in the Scriptures ; see 
Psa. 63 : 1-3 ; 42 : 1 ; 119 : 20, and the like throughout 
the New Testament. And Christ is no less desirous, yea, 
he is much more desirous of communion with us than we 
are with him. Consider that expression of his to the spouse, 
in Sol. Song 8:13: " Thou that dwellest in the gardens, 
the companions hearken to thy voice ; cause me to hear it." 
As if he had said, my people, you frequently converse one 
with another, you talk daily together ; why shall not you 
and I converse with each other ? You speak often to men ; 
that you would speak more frequently to me ! " Let me 
see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy 
voice, and thy countenance is comely." Sol. Song 2 : 14. 
And then these desires are mutually expressed one to another. 
Christ has said, " Surely I come quickly." And the church 
replies, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22 : 20. 
Now, if there be such vehement mutual desires after com- 
munion between Christ and his people in this world, then 
certainly there is such a thing as real communion between 
them, or else both must live a very restless and dissatisfied life. 

Evidence 6. The mutual complaints of the interrup' 
tion of communion plainly prove there is such a thing. Ii 
God complain of his people for their estrangements from 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 

him, and the saints complain to God of his silence to them, 
and the hidings of his lace from them, surely there mud 
a communion between them, else there could be no ground 
of complaints for the interruptions of it. But God does 
complain of his people for their estrangements from him, 
"Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of 
thy youth, the love of thine espousals. What iniquity have 
your fathers found in me, that they arc gone far from me ?" 
Jer. 2 : 2, 5. As if he should say, You and I have been 
better acquainted in days past ; what cause have I given for 
your estrangements from me ? And thus Christ complains 
of the church of Ephesus ; after he had commended many 
things in her, one thing grieves him : " Nevertheless, I have 
somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first 
love." Rev. 2:4. And then on the other side, when the 
Lord hides his face and seems to estrange himself from his 
people, what sad lamentations and moans do they make about 
it, as an affliction they know not how to bear. Thus the 
Psalmist : " Lord, why castest thou ofTmy soul ; why hidest 
thou thy face from me?" Psa. 88 : 14. "Hide not thy 
face far from me ; put not thy servant aw r ay in anger." Psa. 
27 : 9. This is what they cannot bear. 

Evidence 7. The reality of communion with God is 
made visible to others, in the effects of it upon the saints 
who enjoy it. There are visible signs and tokens of it 
appearing to the conviction of others. Thus that marvel- 
lous change which appeared on the very countenance of Han- 
nah, after she had poured out her heart in prayer, and the 
Lord had answered her : it is said, " The woman went 
her way, and her countenance was no more sad." 1 Sam. 
1 : 18. You might have read in her face that God had 
spoken peace and satisfaction to her heart. Thus, when 
the disciples had been with Christ, the mark of communion 
with him was visible to others : " Now, when they saw the 
boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were 

14* 



322 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled ; and they took 
knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus." Acts 
4 : 13. It is sweet, Christian, when the cheerfulness and 
spirituality of thy conversation with men shall convince 
others that thou hast been with Jesus. 

Evidence 8. "We may prove the reality of communion 
with God, from the impossibility of sustaining the troubles 
which the saints have without it. If prayers did not go up 
and answers come down, there were no living for a Christian 
in this world. Prayer is the outlet of the saints' sorrows, 
and the inlet of their supports and comforts. Rom. 8 : 26. 
Say not that other men have their troubles as well as the 
saints, and yet bear them without the help of communion 
with God. It is true that carnal men have their troubles, 
and those troubles are often too heavy for them. The sor- 
rows of the world work death ; but carnal men have no 
such troubles as the saints have, for they have their inward, 
spiritual troubles, as well as their outward troubles. And 
inward troubles are the sinking troubles; but thus the 
strength of God comes to succor them : and except they had 
a God to go to, and draw comfort from, they could never 
bear them. " I had fainted, unless I had believed." Psa. 
27 : 13. Paul had sunk under the builetings of Satan, 
unless he had gone once and again to his God, and received 
the answer, " My grace is sufficient for thee." 2 Cor. 12:9. 

Evidence 9. We argue the reality of communion with 
God from the end of the saints' vocation. AYe read fre- 
quently in Scripture of effectual calling; and what is that 
to which God calls his people, out of the state of nature, 
but unto fellowship and communion with Jesus Christ ? 
" God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellow- 
ship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Cor. 1 : 9. They 
are called, you see, into a life of communion with Christ : 
therefore there is such a communion, else the saints are 
called to the enjoyment of a fancy, instead of a privilege ; 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 323 

which is the greatest reproach that can be cast upon the 
faithful God that called them. 

Evidence 10. The characters and description given of 
the saints in Scripture, evidently show their life of com- 
munion with God. The men of this world are, in Scrip- 
ture, manifestly distinguished from the people of God ; they 
are called, the children of this world ; but the saints, the 
children of light. Luke 16:8. They are said to be after the 
flesh, but saints to be after the Spirit. Rom. 8 : 5. They 
mind earthly things, but the conversation of the saints is in 
heaven. Phil. 3 : 19, 20. By all which it undeniably appears 
that there is a reality in the doctrine of communion between 
Christ and his people. We are not imposed upon ; it is no 
cunningly devised fable, but a thing whose foundation is as 
sure as its nature is sweet. 



324 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 



CHAPTER XII. 

COMMUNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEV- 
ERS ON EARTH — CONTINUED. 

"I WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL SUP WITH HIM, AND US 
WITH MEP Rev. 3:20. 

I shall now proceed to show you. 

III. The transcendent excellency of this life of com- 
munion with God : it is the life of our life, the joy of our 
hearts ; a heaven upon earth — as will appear by these twenty 
excellencies thereof. 

Excellency 1. It is the assimilating instrument ichere- 
by the soul is moulded after the image of God. This is the 
excellency of communion with God, to make the soul like 
him. There is a twofold assimilation or conformity of the 
soul to God, the one perfect and complete, the other imper- 
fect and in part. Perfect assimilation is the privilege of the 
perfect state, resulting from the immediate vision and per- 
fect communion the soul has with God in glory : " "When 
he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him 
as he is." 1 John, 3 : 2. Perfect vision produces perfect 
assimilation ; but the soul's assimilation or imperfect con- 
formity to God in this world, is wrought and gradually car- 
ried on by daily communion with him. And as our com- 
munion with God here grows up more and more into spirit- 
uality and power, so in an answerable degree does our 
conformity to him advance: "But we all, with open face 
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed 
into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit 
of the Lord." 2 Corinth. 3 : 18. All sorts of communion 
among men have an assimilating efficacy : he that walks in 
vain company is vainer than he was before ; and he that 
walks in spiritual, heavenly company, will be more serious 
than before. But nothing so transforms the spirit of a man 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 

as communion with God. Those are most like God that 
converse most frequently with him. The beauty of the Lord 
is upon those souls ; it changes the spirit of a man after the 
divine pattern. 

Excellency 2. It is the beauty of the soul, in the eye9 
of God and all good men ; it makes the face to shine. No 
outward splendor attracts like this ; it makes a man the most 
desirable companion in the whole world : " That which we 
have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may 
have fellowship with us ; and truly our fellowship is with 
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 John, 1 : 3 
This is the great inducement the apostle makes use of to 
draw the world into fellowship with the saints, that their 
fellowship is with God. And if there were ten thousand 
other inducements, there could be none like this. You read 
of a blessed time, when the earth shall be full of holiness ; 
when the Jews, now as a lost generation, shall be called, 
and an eminent degree of sanctification shall be visible in 
them ; and then see the effect of this : " In those days it 
shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all 
languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirts 
of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you ; for we 
have heard that God is w T ith you." Zech. 8 : 23. This 
is the powerful attractive, the Lord is with you; it is the 
effect of communion with God, which makes the righteous 
more excellent than his neighbor. Prov. 12 : 26. What a 
visible difference does this make . between one man and 
another. How heavenly, sweet, and desirable are the con- 
versation and company of some men ; how frothy, burden- 
some, and unprofitable is the company of others ; and what 
makes the difference but only this, the one walks in commun- 
ion with God, the other is alienated from the life of God ? 

Excellency 3. It is the centre on which rests the iveary 
soul — the rest and refreshment of a man's spirit : "Return 
unto thy rest, my soul." Psa. 116 : 7. When we attain 



326 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR,. 

perfect communion with God in heaven, we attain to perfect 
rest ; and all the rest the spirit of man finds on earth, is in 
communion with God. Take a sanctified person who has 
intermitted for some time his communion with the Lord, and 
ask him, Is your soul at rest and ease ? He will tell you, No. 
The motions of his soul are like those of a member of his 
body out of joint, neither comely nor easy. Let him recover 
his spiritual frame again, and with it he recovers his rest 
and comfort. Christians, you meet with a variety of troub- 
les in this world ; many a sweet comfort is cut off", many a 
hopeful project dashed by the hand of Providence ; and 
what, think you, is the meaning of these blasting, disappoint- 
ing providences ? Surely this is their design and errand, to 
disturb your false rest in the bosom of the creature ; to pluck 
away the pillows you were laying your heads upon, that you 
may be led back to God, recover your lost communion with 
him, and say with David, " Return unto thy rest, my 
soul." Sometimes we are settling ourselves to rest in an 
estate, in a child, or the like : at such a time it is usual for 
God to say, Go, losses, smite such a man's estate ; go, death, 
and take away the desire of his eyes with a stroke, that my 
child may find rest nowhere but in me. God is the ark ; 
the soul, like the dove Noah sent forth, let it fly where it 
will, shall find no rest till it come back to GrbcL 

Excellency 4. It is the desire of all gracious souls 
throughout the world. Wherever there is a gracious soul, 
its desires work alter communion with God. As Christ was 
called, " The Desire of all nations," Hag. 2 : 7, so communion 
with him is the desire of all nations ; and this speaks the 

llency of it : " One thing have I desired of the Lord, 
that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the 
Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the 
Lord, and to inquire in his temple." Psa. 27 :4. That is 
to enjoy communion with him in the public duties of his 
worship. One thing have I desired, that is, one thing above 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 327 

all others ; such an one, that if God shall give it me, I can 
comfortably bear the want of other things. Let him deny 
me what he will, if he will not deny me this one thing ; 
this shall richly recompense the want of all other things. 
Hence the desires of the saints are so intense after this one 
thing : "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so pant- 
eth my soul after thee, God ;" and, " My soul fainteth for 
thy salvation ;" " When wilt thou come unto me?" Psalm 
42 : 1 ; 1 19 : 81 ; 101 : 2. No duties can satisfy without it, 
the soul cannot bear the delay, much less the denial of this 
communion. Christians reckon their lives worth nothing 
without it. Ministers may come, ordinances and sabbaths 
may come ; but there is no satisfaction to the desires of a 
gracious heart, till God comes too : " when wilt thou 
come unto me?" 

Excellency 5. As it is the desire, so it is the delight 
of all the children of God, both in heaven and earth. As 
communion with the saints is the delight of Christ, " Let 
me hear thy voice ;" and again, " The companions hearken 
to thy voice; cause me to hear it;" so communion with 
Christ is the delight of his people : " I sat down under his 
shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my 
taste." Sol. Song 2 : 14 ; 8 : 13 ; 2 : 3. It is the pleasure of 
Christ to see the earnest countenances, the blushing cheeks, 
the weeping eyes of his people on their knees ; and it is the 
delight of the saints to see a smile upon his face, and to hear 
a voice of pardon and peace from his lips. I must tell you, 
Christians, you must look for no such delights as these in 
any earthly enjoyment ; there are none better than these, 
till you come home to glory. Communion with God then 
appears most excellent, inasmuch as it is the desire and 
delight of all gracious souls. 

Excellency 6. It is the envy of Satan, that which 
mortifies and disappoints that wicked spirit. how it grates 
and galls that proud and envious spirit, to see men enjoying 



328 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR 

the pleasure of communion with God, from which he him sell 
is fallen and cut off for ever ; to see the saints in delightful 
communion with Christ, while he feels the pangs of horror 
and despair : this he cannot endure to behold. And there- 
fore you find in your experience, that times of communion 
with God are usually busy times of temptation from the 
devil. "And he showed me Joshua the high-priest standing 
before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right 
hand to resist him." Zech. 3:1. It is well for thee, Chris- 
tian, that thou hast an Advocate standing at God's right 
hand to resist and frustrate his attempts upon thee ; other- 
wise Satan would thus destroy your communion with God, 
and make that which is now your delight, your terror. 
Many ways doth the devil oppose the saints' communion 
with God : sometimes he labors to divert them from it ; this 
business shall fall in, or that occasion fall out, on purpose to 
divert thy soul's approach to God ; but if he cannot prevail 
in this, then he labors to distract your thoughts into a thou- 
sand vanities ; or if he succeed not there, he attacks you in 
your return from duty, with spiritual pride and security. 
These fierce oppositions of hell show the w r orth and excel- 
lency of communion with God. 

Excellency 7. It is the design of all the ordinances 
and duties of religion . God lias instituted every ordinance 
and duly, whether public or private, to beget and maintain 
communion between himself and our souls. What are ordi- 
nances, duties, and graces, but perspective-glasses to give us 
a sight of God and help us to communion with him ? God 
never intended his ordinances to be our rest, but mediums ol 
communion with himself, who is our true rest. When wo 
go into a boat, it is not with an intention to dwell there, but 
to be ferried over the water where our business lies. If a 
man miss of communion with God in the best ordinance oi 
duty, it yields him little comfort. He comes back from it, 
like a man that hath travelled many miles to meet a deal 






COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 

friend on special business, but met with disappointment, and 
returns sad and dissatisfied. God appoints ordinances lo | JC 
meeting-places with himself in this world : " Thou shalt 
put the mercy-seat above upon the ark ; and in the ark thou 
shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I 
will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from 
above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubims." 
Exodus 25 : 21, 22. It was not the sight of the golden 
cherubims, or of the ark overlaid with pure gold, which 
could have satisfied Moses, had not the special presence of 
God been there, and had he not held communion with him. 
14 God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thee : my soul 
thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and 
thirsty land, where no water is ; to see thy power and thy 
glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." Psalm 
63 : 1, 2. Magnificent structures, or artificial ornaments of 
places of worship, are of little account with a gracious soul ; 
it is the presence of God and communion with him which 
is the beauty and glory the saints desire to behold. 

Excellency 8. It is the evidence of our union ivith 
Christ and interest in him. All union with Christ must 
evidence itself by a life of communion with him, or our pre- 
tensions to it are vain and groundless. There are many — I 
wish there were more — inquiring after evidences and signs 
of their union with Christ ; here is an evidence that can 
never fail you : Do you live in communion with him ? May 
your life be called a walking with God, as Enoch's was ? 
Then you may be sure you have union with him ; and this is 
so sure a sign, as that death itself, which usually discovers 
the vanity of false signs, will never be able to destroy it, 
Hezekiah could say, " I beseech thee, Lord, remember now 
how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect 
heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight." 
2 Kings, 20 : 3. 0, professors, it will be a dreadful thing, 
whatever ungrounded hopes and false comforts you now 



330 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

have, to find them shrinking away from you, as certainly 
they will at death ; and all on this account : "I have been 
a man of knowledge, have been frequent hi the external 
duties of religion, but my heart was not in them ; I had 
no communion with the Lord in them, and now God is a ter- 
ror to my soul. I am going to his awful bar, and have not 
one sound evidence to carry with me." That is a remark- 
able text in Gal. 5 : 25, " If we live in the Spirit, let us 
also walk in the Spirit ;" that is, let us evidence the life of 
grace in us by exercising that grace in a life of communion 
with God. "When all is said, this is the surest evidence of our 
union with Christ ; and no gifts or performances whatever 
can amount to evidence of union with Christ without it. 

Excellency 9. It is ease in all pains, sweet and sensi- 
ble ease to a troubled soul. As the bleeding of a vein cools, 
eases, and refreshes a feverish body ; so the opening of the 
soul by acts of communion with God, gives ease to a bur- 
dened soul : griefs are eased by groans heavenward. Many 
souls are deeply laden with their own fears, cares, and dis- 
tresses ; no refreshment for such a soul, no anodpie in the 
whole world like communion with God. Psa. 32 : 1, 2. 
How did troubles afflict David's soul ; night and day God's 
hand was heavy on him ; his soul, as Elihu speaks, was like 
bottles full of new wine : he must speak to God ; and so he 
did, and was refreshed by it : "I said, I will confess my 
transgressions unto the Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity 
of my sin." Ver. 5. It would grieve one to see how many 
distressed souls carry their troubles up and down the world, 
making their complaints to one and another ; but obtain no 
ease. Away to thy God, poor Christian; get thee into thy 
closet, pour out thy soul before him ; and that ease which 
thou seekest in vain elsewhere, will there be found, or no- 
where. 

Excellency 10. It is food to the soul, and the most 
delicious, pleasant, proper, and satisfying food that ever it 



COMMUNION WITH C 11 ELIfl I . 

tasted; it is hidden manna. Rev. 8: 17. "0 Lord, by 
these things men Jive, and in ail these thingi is the life of 
my spirit." Isa. 88 : 10. Regenerate souls oannol Line 
without spiritual food: their bodies can live ai well without 

bread, as their souls without communion with God; it is 
more than their necessary i'ood. Here they find what they 
truly call marrow and fatness. Psa. (*>•*) : 5. the Batiefao- 
tion and support they draw from spiritual things by medi- 
tations upon them. "To be spiritually minded is life and 
peace." Rom. 8:6. The delieacies upon princes' tablet 
are husks and chaff to this. Ungodly men may live on the 
vanities of the world, but a renewed soul cannot subsist long 
without God. Let such a soul be diverted for a time from 
its usual refreshments, and he will find his heart aching and 
pining within him. It is angels' food, that which your souls 
must live upon throughout eternity. 

Excellency 11. It is the guard of the soul against the 
assaults of temptation. It is like a shield advanced against 
the fiery darts of the wicked one. Your safety lies in draw- 
ing nigh to God. " They that are far from thee shall 
perish. But it is good for me to draw near to God." Psalm 
73 : 27, 28. It is good indeed ; not only the good of com- 
fort, but the good of safety is in it : "The beloved of the 
Lord shall dwell in safety by him." Deut. 33 : 12. The 
gracious presence of God is your shield and safety ; and if 
you would have the Lord thus present with you in all your 
fears, straits, and dangers, see that you keep near to him in 
the duties of communion. "The Lord, is with you while ye 
be with him." 2 Chron. 15 : 2. 

Excellency 12. It is the ho?ior of the soul, and the 
greatest honor God ever conferred on any creature. It is 
the glory of the holy angels in heaven, to be always behold- 
ing the face of God. Matt. 18 : 10. that God should 
admit poor dust and ashes unto such a nearness to himself: 
to walk with a king, and to have frequent converse with 



332 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

him, puts great honor upon a subject ; but the saints walk 
with God ; so did Enoch, so do all the saints. " Truly our 
fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus 
Christ." 1 John, 1:3. They have liberty and access with 
confidence ; the Lord, as it were, delivers to them the golden 
key of prayer, by which they may come into his presence on 
all occasions with the freedom of children to a father. 

Excellency 13. It is the instrument of mortificatio?i i 
and the most excellent and successful instrument for that 
purpose. " This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall 
not fulfil the works of the flesh." Gal. 5 : 16. Walking in 
the Spirit is the same thing as walking in communion with 
God. Now, says the apostle, if you walk thus in the Spirit, 
in the actings of faith, love, and obedience, through the 
course of holy duties, the effect will be, that ye shall not 
fulfil the lusts of the flesh. He does not say, You shall not 
feel temptations to sin assaulting you ; but, You shall not 
fulfil the lusts of the flesh, sin shall not have dominion over 
you ; this will free you from the power of sin. A tempta- 
tion overcome this way is more effectually subdued, than by 
all the vows, resolutions, and external means in the world. 
A candle that is blown out with a puff of breath may be 
rekindled by another puff; but if it is quenched in water, 
it is not easily lighted again : so you never find such power 
or success of temptation over you when your hearts are up 
with God in the exercise of faith and love, as you do when 
your hearts hang loose from him, and dead towards him. 
The schoolmen assign this as one reason why no sin can 
fasten upon the saints in heaven, because they there enjoy 
the beatific vision of God. This is sure, that the more com- 
munion any man has with God on earth, the more free he is 
from the power of his corruptions. 

Excellency 14. It is the kernel of all duties and 
ordinances. Words and gestures are but the husks and 
ehells of duties. Communion with God is the sweet kernel, 



COMMUNION W1TI ST. 333 

the pleasant and nourishing bod which lies within them: 
you see the fruits of the earth are and defended by 

husks, shells, and such-like integuments, within which lie the 
pleasant kernels and grains; and these arc the food. The 
hypocrite who goes no further than the externa] ion, 

is said to iced on ashes, [sa. 11 : 20, to spend bis money for 
that which is not bread, and his labor for that which B8 
fieth not. Isa. 6J : 2. He feeds upon husks, in which there 
is but little pleasure or nourishment. What a poor house 
doth a hypocrite keep ! Words, gestures, ceremonies of re- 
ligion, will never fill the soul ; but communion with God is 
substantial nourishment. As David said, " My soul shall 
be satisfied as with marrow and fatness ; and my mouth 
shall praise thee with joyful lips ; when I remember thee 
upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.' 1 
Psa. 63 : o, 6. It grieves one's heart to think what airy 
things many souls satisfy themselves with ; feeding like 
Ephraim upon the wind, well contented if they can but 
perform a few heartless duties ; while the saints feeding on 
hidden manna, are feasted as it were with angels' food. 

Excellency Id. It is the light of the soul in darkness, 
and the pleasantest light that ever shone upon the soul of 
man. There are many who walk in darkness ; some in the 
darkness of ignorance and unbelief, the most dismal of all 
darkness, except that in hell. There are others who are 
children of light in a state of reconciliation, yet walk in the 
darkness of outward afflictions, and inward desertions and 
temptations ; but as soon as the light of God's countenance 
shines upon the soul in the duties of communion with him, 
that darkness is scattered ; it is all light within and round 
about the soul. " They looked unto him and were light- 
ened." Psa. 34 : 5. They looked, there is faith acted in 
duty ; and were enlightened, there is the sweet effect of 
faith. The horrors and troubles of gracious souls retire on 
the rising of this cheerful light. As wild beasts come out 



334 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOGE.. 

of their dens in the darkness of the night, and shrink back 
again when the sun ariseth, Psa. 104 : 20-22 ; so do the 
fears and inward troubles of the people of God, when this 
light shines upon their souls. Nay more, this is a light 
which scatters the very darkness of death itself. It was the 
saying of a worthy divine of Germany upon his death-bed, 
when his eyesight was gone, being asked how it was with- 
in : " Why," said he, " though all be dark about me," yet, 
pointing as well as he could to his breast, " here is light 
enough." 

Excellency 16. It is liberty to the imprisoned soul, 
and the most comfortable and excellent liberty in the whole 
world. He only walks at liberty who walks with God : " I 
will walk at liberty ; for I seek thy precepts." Psa. 119 : 45. 
Wicked men cry out of bands and cords in religion ; they 
look upon the duties of godliness as the greatest bondage 
and thraldom. " Let us break their bands asunder, and cast 
away their cords from us." Psa. 2:3. Away with this 
strictness and preciseness, it extinguishes the joy and pleas- 
ure of our lives ; give us our cups instead of Bibles, our 
jovial songs instead of spiritual psalms, our sports and pas- 
times instead of prayers and sermons. Alas, poor creatures, 
how do they dance in their chains, when, in reality, the 
sweetest liberty is enjoyed in the duties at which they thus 
scoff. The law of Christ is the law of liberty ; the soul of 
man never enjoys more freedom than when it is bound with 
the strictest bonds of duty to God. Here is liberty from 
enthralling lusts, and from enslaving fears : " The law of 
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from 
the law of sin and death." Rom. 8 : 2. And here is free- 
dom indeed : "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye 
shall be free indeed." John 8 : 36. And here is freedom 
from fears. Luke 1 : 74, 75. Those that will not endure 
any restraint from their lusts, will have their freedom to 
gin ; a freedom they shall have, such as it is. " When ye 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 

were the servants of gin, ] a righteou 

Rom. 6: 20. Let none there arejudioed the 

Ways of July and godliness. The law of I 
feat law of liberty, James 1 : 26 — not liberty to sin ; but lib- 
erty from sin. 

Excellency 17. It ifl by the blood 

of Christ for believers, and one of the principal DQ6IC 
tied upon them by the i; :ant. A peculiar me] 

which none but the redeemed of the Lord partake of — a 
mercy the purchase of which cost the blood of Christ. I do 
not deny but there are thousands of other mercies bestowed 
upon the unregenerate : they have health, wealth, children, 
honors, pleasures, and all the delights of this life ; but com- 
munion with God, and the pleasures which result therefrom, 
they are incapable of enjoying. There can be no supping 
with Christ on such excellent privileges and mercies as 
these, till the heart is opened to him by faith ; you cannot 
come nigh to God, until you are first made nigh by reconcil- 
iation. Eph. 2 : 13 ; Heb. 10 : 19-22. What would your 
lives, Christians, be worth to you, if this mercy were cut ofT 
from you ? There would be little sweetness or savor in all 
your outward mercies, were it not for this that sweetens 
them all. And there is this difference, among many others, 
between this and all outward mercies : you may be cut off 
from the enjoyment of those, but you cannot from this ; no 
prison can keep out the Comforter. bless God for this 
invaluable mercy. 

Excellexxy IS. It is natural to the new creature ; the 
inclination of the newly regenerated soul leads to commun- 
ion with God. It is as natural to him to desire it and work 
after it, as it is to the new T -born babe to seek the breast . 
" As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the w T ord, 
that ye may grow 7 thereby." 1 Pet. 2:2. There is a law 
upon the regenerate soul, which inwardly and powerfully 
constrains it to acts of duty, and fellowship with God in 



336 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

them. Communion with God arises out oi the principles of 
grace. You know all creatures act according to the laws 
of nature : the sun will rise and the sea will flow at their 
appointed times ; and the gracious soul will make towards 
its God in the times and seasons of communion with him. 
It is not forced to these duties by the frights of conscience 
and the fears of hell, so much as by the natural inclina- 
tion of the new creature. Two things demonstrate com- 
munion with God to be conatural to the regenerate soul, 
the inner-man, the hidden-man of the heart : namely, first, 
the restlessness of a gracious soul without it. The church 
had sought her Beloved, but found him not. Does she sit 
down satisfied in his absence ? No ; "I will rise now, and 
go about the city ; in the streets and in the broad ways I will 
geek him whom my soul loveth." Sol. Sc.ig 3 : 2. Second, 
the satisfaction and 'pleasure which the soul feels in the 
enjoyment of communion with God, plainly show it to be 
agreeable to the new nature : "My soul shall be satisfied as 
with marrow and fatness ; and my mouth shall praise thee 
with joyful lips ; when I remember thee upon my bed." 
Psa. 63 : 5, 6. And when it is thus, duties become easy and 
pleasant to the soul : " His commandments are not griev- 
ous." 1 John, 5:3. Yea, such a soul will be constant and 
assiduous in those duties. That which is natural, is constant 
as well as pleasant. What is the reason hypocrites renounce 
the duties of religion in times of difficulty, but because they 
have not an inward principle agreeable to them ? The mo- 
tives to duty lie without them, not within them. 

Excellency 19. It is the holy commerce of all sancti- 
fied persons, and the richest trade ever engaged in by men. 
Thus they grow rich in spiritual treasures ; the revenues 
of it are better than silver and gold. Many of you have 
traded long for this world, and it comes to little ; and had 
you gained your designs, you had gained but trifles. This 
is the rich and profitable occupation : " Our conversation is 



COMMUNION WITH OH l: . i ■ 

in heaven." Phil. 3 : 20. Our comm< i 

the word signifies. There are few Christiana who have 
engaged in this soul-enriching trade any considerable time, 

but can show some spiritual treasures which they fa 
gotten by it: "This* I had, because 1 kept thy precepl 
Psa. 119:56. As merchants can show the gold and sill 

the lands and houses, the rich goods and furniture, which 
they have obtained by their successful adventures abroad ; 

and tell their friends, so much I got by such a voyage, and 
so much by another; so Christians have invaluable trei 
ures, though their humility conceals them, which they have 
gained by this heavenly commerce of communion with God. 
Their souls are weak, but by communion with God they 
have gotten strength: " I cried, and thou answeredst me, 
and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." Psa. 
138 : 3. They have gained peace by it, a treasure inesti- 
mable : " Great peace have they which love thy law ; and 
nothing shall oflend them." Psa. 119 : 165. They have 
obtained purity by it : " They also do no iniquity : they 
walk in his ways." Psa. 119: 3, what rich returns 
are here ; nay, they sometimes get full assurance by it. The 
riches of both the Indies will not purchase from a Christian 
the least of these mercies. These are the rich rewards of 
our pains hi the duties of religion ; in keeping his com- 
mandments there is great reward. Psa. 19 : 11. 

Excellency 20. It is oil to the ivheels of obedience, 
which makes the soul go on cheerfully in the ways of the 
Lord : "I will rmi the way of thy commandments, when 
thoushalt enlarge my heart." Psa. 119 : 32. Oiled wheels 
run freely. How prompt and ready for any act of obedience 
is a soul under the influence of communion with God. 
Then it cries, as Isaiah, having gotten a sight of God, 
11 Here am I, send me." Isa. 6:8. 

Hereby the soul is prepared for the duties of active obe- 
dience, to which it applies itself with delight : " Then will 

Christ Knocking. 1 



338 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy," 
Psa. 43 : 4 ; or, as it is in the Hebrew, " the gladness of my 
joy." The soul goes to prayer as a hungry man to a feast, 
or a covetous man to his treasures : " I have rejoiced in the 
way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches." Psa. 
119: 14. 

It prepares the soul for passive obedie?2ce, and makes a 
man rejoice in his sufferings. Col. 1 : 24. It will make a 
Christian stand ready to receive any burden that God may 
lay on his shoulders, and even be thankful to be so employed : 
" The joy of the Lord is your strength." Neh. 8:10. A 
Christian under the cheerful influences of near communion 
with God, can with more cheerfulness lay down his neck 
for Christ, than other men can lay out a shilling for him. 
In all these twenty particulars, you have an account of the 
excellency of this privilege ; but how short an account 
have I given of it. What remains, is the application of this 
doctrine. 

Inference 1. How ccrlt is a God, 

and a state of glory prepared Thesu 

things are undeniable. God I >re our spirit- 

ual eyes am! relation of heaven in 

the gospel, Which without any thing more makes it infalli- 
ble, the Lord, for our abundant satisfaction, has brought 
these things down to the touch sod test of our spiritual 
senses and exjx n< ace, You who have had so many sights 
of God by faith, so many sweet tastes of heaven in the 
duties of religion, what a c ml seal have you 

of the reality of invisible thin heaven. 

and the joys above, as the did of Him that purch 

it, "Which we have heard, which we have seen with our 
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have 
handled," 1 John, 1:1; for God has set these things in 
some degree before your eyes, and put the first-fruits of them, 
into your hands. The sweet relish of the joy of the Lord is 






COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 330 

on the very palate of your souls. To this spiritual sense of 
the believing Hebrews the apostle appealed when he said, 
ye " took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in 
yourselves that ye have in heaven a better, and an enduring 
substance." Heb. 10 : 34. This knowing in ourselves is 
more certain and sweet than all the traditional reports we 
can get from others : " Whom having not seen, ye love ; in 
whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice 
with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter, 1:8. 
There is more of heaven felt and tasted in this world than 
men are aware of; it is one thing to hear of such countries 
as Spain, Italy, and Turkey by the reports we heard of them 
in our childhood, and another thing to understand them by 
the rich commodities imported from them, in the way of 
commerce. did we but know what other Christians have 
felt and tasted, we should not have such doubtful thoughts 
about invisible things. But the secret comforts of religion 
are, and ought to be for the most part, hidden things. Re- 
ligion lays not all open ; the Christian life is a hidden life. 

2. If such a height of communion with God he attain- 
able on earthy then most Christians live beloiv the duties 
and comforts of Christianity. Alas, the best of us are but 
at the foot of this pleasant mount Pisgah. As we are but 
in the infancy of our graces, so we are but in the infancy of 
our comforts. What a poor table is kept by many of God's 
own children ; living between hopes and fears, seldom tasting 
the riches and joys of assurance. And would you know the 
reasons of it ? There are five things which umaily keep 
them poor and low as to spiritual joys. First, the incum- 
brances of the world, which divert them from, or distract 
them in their duties of communion with God, and so keep 
them low in their spiritual comforts. They have so much 
to do on earth, that they have little time for heavenly em- 
ployments. what a noise and din do the trifles of this 
world make in the heads and hearts of many Christians. 



340 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

How dear do we pay for such trifles as these. Second, a 
spirit of formality creeping into the duties of religion impov- 
erishes its vital spirit, like the embraces of the ivy, which 
hinds and starves the tree it clasps about. Religion cannot 
thrive under formality, which it is difficult to keep out of a 
settled course of duty, and much more when duties are inter- 
mitted. Third, frequent temptations annoy the minds of 
many Christians, especially such as are of melancholy tem- 
perament. How importunate and restless are these tempta- 
tions with some Christians. They can gain little comfort 
or advantage in duty, by reason of them. Fourth, heart 
apostasy, the inward decay of our first love, is another reason 
why our duties prosper so little. " Thou hast left thy first 
love." Rev. 2:4. You were not wont to serve God with 
such coldness. Fifth, in a word, spiritual pride impoverishes 
our comforts ; the joys of the Spirit, like brisk wines, are too 
strong for our weak heads. For these causes, many Chris- 
tians are kept low in spiritual comforts. 

3. How sweet and desirable is the society of the sat 

It must needs be desirable to walk with them who walk 
with God. 1 John, 1:3. There are no such companions 
as the saints. What benefit or pleasure can we find in con- 
verse with sensual worldlings? All we can carry away out 
of such company is guilt or grief. David speaks of his de- 
light as being with the saints, the excellent of the earth. 
Psalm 16:3. And their society would certainly be much 
more sweet and desirable than it is, did they live more in 
communion with God than they do. There was a time 
when the communion of the saints was exceedingly lovely, 
Mai. 3:16; Acts 2 : 46, 47 ; the Lord restore it to its prim- 
itive glory and sweetness. 

4. What an unspeakable mercy is conversion, which 
lets the sold into such a state of spiritual pleasure. Here 
is the beginning of your acquaintance with God — the first 
epiritual pleasures, of which there shall never be an end. 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 311 

All the time men have spent in an unconverted Btate, 
been a time of estrangement and alienation from God ; wher 
the Lord brings a man to Christ, in the way of conversion, 
he begins his first acquaintance with God. "Acquaint 
now thyself with him, and be at peace ; thereby good shaM 
come unto thee." Job 22:21. This your first acquaint- 
ance with the Lord, will grow ; every visit you give him in 
prayer increases intimacy, and humble, holy familiarity be- 
tween him and you. And what a paradise of pleasure 
does this let the soul into ; the life of religion abounds with 
pleasures. Psalm 16 : 11. " Her ways are ways of pleas- 
antness, and all her paths are peace." Prov. 3:17. Now 
you know where to go for relief from any trouble that presses 
your hearts ; whatever prejudices and scandal Satan and his 
instruments cast on religion, this I will affirm of it, that that 
man must necessarily be a stranger to true pleasure, and 
empty of real comfort, who is a stranger to Christ and com- 
munion with him. True, here is no allowance for sinful 
pleasures ; nor is there any lack of spiritual pleasures. Bless 
God, therefore, for converting grace, you that have it ; and 
lift up a cry to heaven for it, you that want it. 

5. If there be so much delight in our imperfect, and often 
interrupted communion with God here, then what is heaven; 
what are the immediate visions of his face in the perfect 
state! "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have 
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him." 1 Cor. 2 : 9. You have 
heard glorious and ravishing reports in the gospel of that 
blessed future state, things which the angels desire to look 
into. You have felt and tasted joys unspeakable and full of 
glory, in the actings of your faith and love upon Christ ; yet 
all you have heard, and all you have felt and tasted in the 
way to glory, falls so short of the perfection and blessedness 
of that state, that heaven will and must be a great surprise 
to them who have now the best acquaintance with it. 



342 CHH1ST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

Though the present comforts of the saints are sometimes as 
much as they can bear, for they say, " Stay me with flagons, 
comfort me with apples ; for I am sick of love," Sol. Song 
2:5; yet these high tides of joy are but shallows, compared 
with the joys of his immediate presence. 1 Cor. 13 : 12. 
And as they run not so deep, so they are not constant and 
continued, as they shall be above : "So shall we ever be 
with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17. 

6. Is this the privileged state into which all believers 
are admitted by conversion ? then strive for the highest 
attainment of communion with God in this world : be 
not contented with just so much grace as will secure you 
from hell, but labor after such a height of grace and com- 
munion with God as may bring you into the suburbs of 
heaven on earth. Forget the things that are behind you, as 
to satisfaction in them, and press towards the mark for the 
prize of your high calling. It is greatly to your loss that 
you live at such a distance from God, and are so seldom with 
him. Think not that the ablest ministers or the choicest 
books will ever be able to satisfy your doubts or comfort 
your hearts, while you let down your communion with God 
to so low a degree. that you may be persuaded now 
to hearken obediently to three or four necessary words of 
counsel. 

(1 .) Make communion with God the very level and aim 
of your soul in all your approaches to him in the ordinances 
and duties of religion. Set it upon the point of your com- 
pass, let it be the very thing your soul designs ; let the 
desire and hope of communion with God be the thing that 
draws you to every sermon and prayer : " One thing have I 
desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell 
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold 
the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." 
Psa. 27 : 4 That was the mark David aimed at ; and 
men's success in duties is usually according to the spiritual 



c ^ 343 

aims and intentions of their heart! in them : bt my 

and oomfort Lie much in c 

(2.) In all your approaches to God, pie with him 

for the manifestation of his lore, and further communica- 
tions of his grace : M Hear. land, when I cry with my voice : 
have meroy also upon me, and answer me. When thou 
■sicht, Seek ye my face ; my h d unto thee, Th) i 

Lord, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me ; put not 
thy servant away in anger." Fsalm 27 : 7-9. Ilow lull 
of pleas and arguments lor communion with God was this 
prayer of David. Lord, I am come, in obedience to thy 
command ; thou saidst, " Seek ye my face," thou badest me 
come to thee, and wilt thou put away thy servant in anger ? 
Thou hast been my help, I have had sweet experience of 
thy goodness, thou dost not use to put me off and turn me 
away empty. 

(3.) Desire not comfort for its own sake, but comforts 
and refreshments for service and obedience' sake ; that there- 
by you may be strengthened to go on in the ways of your 
duty with more cheerfulness. " I will run the way of thy 
commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart." Psa. 
119 : 32. As if he should say, Lord, the comforts thou 
shalt give me, shall be returned again in cheerful services to 
thee. I desire them as oil to the wheels of obedience, not as 
food for my pride. 

(4.) As ever you expect much comfort in the way of 
communion with God, see that you are strict and circum- 
spect in your conversation. It is the looseness and careless- 
ness of our hearts and lives wdiich impoverishes our spiritual 
comforts. A little pride, a little carelessness frustrates a 
great deal of comfort which was very near us, almost in 
our hands. " "When I would have healed Israel, then the 
iniquity of Ephraim was discovered." Hosea 7:1. So, 
just when the desire of thy heart was at the door, some sin 
slept in the way of it. " Your iniquities have separated 



344 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face 
from you." Isa. 59 : 2. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is 
tender, and hath quick sensibility to your unkindnesses and 
offences. As ever, therefore, you expect comfort from him, 
bo careful in your conduct towards him, and grieve him not. 
7. This point speaks needful counsel to unbelievers — to 
all that live estranged from the life of God, and have done 
so from the womb. Psalm 58 : 3. To you the voice of the 
Redeemer sounds a summons once more: "Behold, I stand 
at the door and knock." that at last you may be pre- 
vailed with to comply with the merciful terms propounded 
by him. Will you shut out a Saviour bringing salvation, 
pardon, and peace with him ? Christ is thy rightful owner, 
and demands possession of thy soul ; if thou wilt now hear 
his voice, thy former refusals shall never be objected. If 
thou still reject his gracious oilers, mercy may never more 
be tendered to thee ; there is a call of Christ which will be 
the last call, and after that no more. Take heed what you 
do ; if you still demur and delay, your damnation is just, 
inevitable, and inexcusable. Hear me, therefore, ye unre- 
generate souls, in what rank or condition soever Providence 
has placed you in this world, whether you be rich or poor, 
young or old, masters or servants, whether there be any 
stirrings of conviction in your consciences or not ; for how- 
ever your conditions in this world difler from each other 
at present, there is one common misery hanging over you 
all, if you continue in that state of unbelief in which you 
now are. 

(1.) Hearken to the voice and call of Christ, you tliaf arc 
exalted by V Jiburs- -who 

have your heads, hands, and hearts full of the world men 
of trade and business, I have a few solemn cjuestions to ask 
you this day. 

You have made many gainful bargains in your t : 
but what will all profit you if the agreement be not 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 345 

between Christ and your souls ? Christ is the only treasure 
which can enrich you. Matt. 13 :44. Thou art poor and 
miserable, whatever thou hast gained of this world, if thou 
hast not gained Christ ; thou hast heaped up guilt with thy 
riches, which will more torment thy conscience hereafter, 
than thy estate can yield thee comfort here. 

You have made many insurances to secure your estates, 
which you call policies; but what insurance have you made 
for your souls ? Are not they exposed to eternal hazards ? 
impolitic man, to be so provident to secure trifles, and so 
negligent in securing the richest treasure. 

You have adjusted many accounts with men, but who 
shall make up your accounts with God if you are Christ- 
less ? " "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul?" Matt. 16:26. Say not, 
you have much business on your hands, and cannot afford 
time ; you will have. space enough hereafter to reflect upon 
your folly. 

(2.) You who are poor in the world, what say you ; will 
you have two hells, one here and another hereafter ? JNTo 
comfort in this world, nor hope for the next ? Your expec- 
tations here laid in the dust, and your hopes for heaven built 
upon the sand ? if you were once in Christ, how happy 
were you, though you knew not where to obtain your next 
bread. Poor in the world, but rich in faith ; and heirs ol 
the kingdom which God has promised. James 2:5. 
blessed state. If you had Christ, you would have a right to 
all things, 1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23 ; you would then have a Father 
to take care for you. But to be poor and Christless, no com- 
fort from this world nor hopes from the next, this is to be 
miserable indeed. Your very straits and wants should 
prompt you to the great duty I am now pressing on you ; 
and methinks it should be matter of encouragement that the 
greatest number of Christ's friends and followers come out 
of that rank of men to which you belong. 

15* 



346 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

(3.) You who are seamen, floating often on the great 
deep, you are reckoned a third sort of persons between the 
living and the dead ; you belong not to the dead, because 
you breathe, and scarcely to the living, because you are con- 
tinually so near to death. What think you, friends, have 
you no need of a Saviour ? Do you live so secure from the 
reach and danger of death ? Have your lives been so pure, 
righteous, and innocent, who have been in the midst of 
temptations in the world abroad ? Ponder that scripture, 
1 Cor. 6:9, 10 : " Be not deceived ; neither fornicators, nor 
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of them- 
selves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunk- 
ards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom 
of God;" ponder it, I say, and think whether you have not 
as great and pressing a necessity of Jesus Christ as any poor 
souls under heaven. You have had from God many temporal 
salvations, great and eminent deliverances ; and will these 
satisfy you ? Is it enough that your bodies are delivered 
from the danger of the sea, though your souls sink and perish 
in the ocean of God's wrath for ever ? If you will yet accept 
Christ upon his terms, all that you have done shall be for- 
given. Isa. 55 : 1, 2. The Lord now calls to you in a still 
voice : if you hear his voice, well ; if not, you may shortly 
hear his voice in the tempestuous storms without you, and a 
roaring conscience within you. Poor man, think what an 
interest in Christ will be worth, wert thou now, as shortly 
thou mayest be, floating on a piece of wreck, or shivering on 
a cold and desolate rock, crying, Mercy, Lord, mercy. Mercy 
is now offered thee, but in vain wilt thou expect to find it, 
if thou continue thus to despise and reject it. 

(4.) You who are aged and full of days, hearken to the 
voice of Christ ; God has called on you a long time. When 
you were young you said, it is time enough yet, we will mind 
these things when we are old, and come nearer to the bor- 
ders of eternity. Well, now you are old, and just on the 



COMMUNION WITH CHRIST. 347 

borders of it ; will you indeed mind it now ? You Lave 
left the great concerns of your souls to this time, this short, 
very short time ; and do the temptation* of your youth take 
hold upon your age? What, delay and put oil* Christ still, 
as you were wont to do ? Poor creatures, you are almost 
gone out of time, you have but a short space to deliberate ; 
what you do must be done quickly, or it can never be 
done. Your night is even come upon you, when no man 
can work. 

(5.) You who are young, in. the bud or flower of your 
time, Christ is a suitor for your first love ; he desires the 
kindness of your youth ; your spirits are vigorous, your hearts 
tender, your affections flowing and impressible ; you are not 
yet entered into the incumbrances and distracting cares of 
the world. Hereafter a crowd and thick, succession of 
earthly employments and engagements will come on ; sin 
will harden you by custom and continuance. Now is your 
time ; you are in the convertible age ; few that pass the 
season of youth are brought to Christ afterwards. It is the 
wonder of an age to hear of the conversion of aged sinners. 
Besides, you are the hope of the next generation. Should 
you neglect and despise Christ, how bad soever the present 
age is, the next will be worse. Say not, we have time 
enough before us, we will not quench the sprightly vigor of 
our youth in melancholy thoughts. Remember, there are 
skulls of all sizes and graves of all lengths in the church- 
yard. You may die before those that seem to stand nearer 
the grave than you. you cannot be happy too soon. As 
young as you are, did you but taste the comforts that are in 
Christ, nothing would grieve you more than that you knew 
him no sooner. Behold, he standeth at thy door in the 
morning of thy age, knocking this day for admission into thy 
heart. 

(6.) To you ivho have had some slight, ineffectual, and 
vanishing convictions formerly , the Lord Jesus once more 



348 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

renews his call. "Will you now at last hear his voice ? It 
is an infinite mercy to have a second call. I doubt not but 
many among you, while you have sat under the word, have 
had such thoughts as these in your hearts : u Sure my condi- 
tion is not right, nor safe ; there must another manner of 
work pass upon my soul, or I am lost for ever. External 
duties of religion I do perform, but I am a stranger to regen- 
eration." Such inward convictions as these were the knocks 
and calls of Christ, but they passed away and were forgot- 
ten : your convictions are dead, and your hearts the more 
hardened ; for it is with a soul under conviction as in putting 
iron into the lire, and quenching it again ; this hardens it the 
more. You have been near the kingdom of God, but will 
be the more miserable for that, if you are shut out at last. 
The quickening of your convictions is the right way to the 
saving of your souls. The Lord make you this day to hear 
his voice. 

(7.) Si":1l as go to hear the gospd on vain accounts, for 
mere novelty or worse ends — to advantages, or to 

reproach the truths of God— at the most solemn 

voice of Christ : the word that you have slighted and re- 
proached, the ;all judge you in that great day, except 
the D repentanpe unto life, and make the heart 
tremble under it that hath BCoffed at it. " Be ye not mock- 
ers, lest your hand- be made strong." La. 

Let all whoa i this day, 

for the enjoyment of thi the blessed instrument of 

their salvation. bleSfl the Lord that lias made it a key by 

•neration to open the door of salvation to your souls : 
"And as ye have there! sua the Lord, 

bo walk ye in him." Col. 2 : 6. 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 349 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE TRUTH HELD IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. 

" THE WRATH OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN AGAINST 
ALL UNGODLINESS, AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS OF MEN, WHO 
HOLD THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." Rom. 1.18. 

In all the foregoing discourses, I have been pleading and 
wooing for Christ. And as Abraham's servant, to win 
Rebekah's consent, told her what treasures his master's son 
had, so I have labored to show you some part of the un- 
searchable riches of Christ, if by any means I might allure 
your hearts, and be instrumental to close the happy union 
between him and you ; and, as the apostle speaks, espouse 
you to one husband, even to Christ. 2 Cor. 11:2. • 

But alas, how few move towards him. The most seem 
to be immovably fixed in their natural state and sinful 
course. All our arguments and entreaties return to us 
again, and effect nothing. It is amazing to think that souls 
which have in them the hopes and fears of the world to 
come, and self-reflecting powers, cannot be prevailed upon to 
quit the way of sin and to embrace the way of holiness, 
though their consciences meanwhile stand convinced that 
eternal damnation is the result of the one, and life, peace, 
and eternal joys of the other. 

This has put me upon a serious search what may be the 
cause of this fixed and unreasonable obstinacy ; and it seems 
evident that most who live in an unregenerate state under 
the gospel, put a force upon their own consciences, and im- 
prison and hold the truth in unrighteousness, though the 
wrath of G-od be revealed from heaven against all that do so 

If by this discourse I can but set truth at liberty, and 
loose the Lord's prisoners which lie bound in your souls, 1 
shall not doubt that the estimate of the value of Christ will 
quickly rise among you, and free convictions will make the 



350 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

work of your ministers more easy and successful than they 
now find it. It is hardly imaginable but that the things 
you have heard must leave your souls under convictions ; but 
if you suppress and stifle them, they produce nothing but ag- 
gravations of sin and misery. Now, in order to the effectual 
working of your convictions, and awakening the reverence 
which is due to them from every soul, as to the voice of God, 
I have chosen this scripture, the scope and sense whereof I 
shall endeavor to give you. 

The true scope and aim of this context is to prove the 
justification of sinners to be only by the imputed righteous- 
ness of Christ in the way of faith. To make this evident, 
he divides the whole world into Gentiles and Jews: the one 
seeking righteousness by the dim light of nature, or the law 
written in their hearts ; the other, the Jews, by the works of 
the law, or external conformity to the law of Moses. But 
that neither can find what they seek, he distinctly and fully 
proves. He proves it first upon the Gentiles from this verse 
to the seventeenth of the second chapter ; and then he proves 
it upon the Jews also, from thence to the end of the third 
chapter. As for the Gentiles, he acknowledges that they 
had some notions of God imprinted in their nature ; they 
had also the book of creation, giving them knowledge enough 
to leave them without excuse. But this knowledge of God, 
and of good and evil, they did not obey and put in practice, 
but acted against the dictates of their consciences. For 
which cause the wrath of God was revealed from heaven 
against them, as the text speaks. Wherein we notice, 

1. Here is a clear and dreadful revelation of divine 
wrath, "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven;" bpyrj 
Oeov, the indignation or vengeance of God. It is a word of 
deep and dreadful signification ; the damned who feel its 
weight, have the fullest sense of it. It is said, Psa. 90 : 11, 
44 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according 
to thy fear, so is thy wrath." That is, the fears of an 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 

incensed Deity arc no vain imaginings, nor the effecti oi 
ignorance and superstition, as atheists fancy ; but let me 
fears of it be what they will, they shall find, bay 

repent, the wrath of God to be according b 

their fears of it. If the wrath of" a king he as the me 
ger of death, what is the wrath of* thi and terrible 

God? This wrath is here said to be revealed, discovered 
made manifest ; and so it is in various ways. It was revealed 
to them by the light of nature, their own oonsciena 
them notice and warning of it. Thus it was revealed to 
them by an internal testimony, a witness within them ; and 
it was also revealed to them by the instances of punish- 
ment of sin in all ages by the immediate hand of a justly 
incensed God. They came not by chance, but divine direc- 
tion ; therefore it is added, " from heaven," or from God 
in heaven. 

2. Here is the cause of this revealed and inflicted 
ivrath : it "is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of men." The former word, ungodliness, 
comprises all sins against the first table of the law ; the irre- 
ligious lives and practices of men, living in the neglect of the 
duties of religion : the other word, unrighteousness, com- 
prises all sins against the second table, such as acts of fraud, 
uncleanness, lying, and other sins, against men. And because 
these two comprehensive words are branched out into many 
particulars, therefore the apostle says, "The wrath of God is 
revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness." There 
is not one of the many sins into which ungodliness and un- 
righteousness are branched out, but incenses the Lord's wrath ; 
and though he only mentions the sins, we are to understand 
them as put for the sinners that commit them, or God's pun- 
ishing these sins upon the persons of the sinners. 

3. We have here before us the special aggravation of 
these sins, or that which made them more provoking to God 
than otherwise they had been. And it was this : that while 



352 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

they committed these sins, or omitted those duties, they "held 
the truth in unrighteousness :" the word signifies to detain or 
hinder the truth of God, or the knowledge they had of his 
being, power, goodness, and truth, as also of his worship, and 
the difference between good and evil. These truths acted 
on their consciences ; conscience labored to excite them to 
duty, and restrain them from sin ; but all in vain, they over- 
bore their own consciences, and kept those sentiments and 
convictions prisoners, though they struggled for liberty to 
break forth into practice and obedience. Their convictions 
were kept down under the dominion of corruption, as a pris- 
oner is shut up by his keeper. Their lusts were too hard for 
their light. Thus you have both the scope and sense of the 
text. The doctrine taught by it is this, 

The wrath of God is dreadfully incensed against all 
those ivho live in any course of sin, against the light and 
dictates of their own consciences. 

Sins of ignorance provoke the wrath of God ; yet they 
are not of so heinous a nature as sins against light and con- 
victions are, nor will they be punished so severely. "That 
servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not him- 
self, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with 
many stripes." Luke 12:47. It excuses a man in some 
measure, when he can say, Lord, had I known this to be a 
sin, I would not have done it. But when the conscience is 
convinced, and strives to keep us from such an act or course 
of sinful actions, and we stop our ears against its voice and 
warnings, here is a high and horrid contempt of God and 
his law, and it gives the sin a scarlet dye. Sins of igno- 
rance cannot compare with such sms as these. John 3:19; 
15 : 22. To open this point, let me show what conscience 
is ; what the light of conscience is ; and how this light binds 
the conscience and makes it strive in us ; then instance 
some cases wherein it doth so ; and lastly show how and 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 353 

why the imprisoning of these convictions so dreadfully 
incenses the wrath of God. 

I. It will be needful to speak of the nature of con- 
science in general. Conscience is the judgment of man 
upon himself, as he is subject to the judgment of God. A 
judgment it is, and a practical judgment too ; it belongs to 
the understanding. " If we would judge ourselves, we 
should not be judged." 1 Cor. 11 : 31. This self-judgment 
is the proper office of the conscience, and to enable it to 
fulfil its office, there are three things belonging to every 
man's conscience. 

1. A knowledge of the rule or law according to which 
it is to judge ; without which conscience can no more do 
its work, than an artificer without his square or level can 
do his. 

2. Knowledge of the facts or matters to be judged. 
The conscience of every man keeps a register of his actions, 
thoughts, and the very secrets of the heart. 

3. An ability or delegated authority to pass judgment on 
ourselves and actions according to the rule and law of God. 
Here it sits upon the bench as G od's vicegerent, absolving or 
condemning, as it finds the sincerity or hypocrisy of the heart 
upon trial. 1 John, 3 : 20, 21. 

Conscience, therefore, is a high and awful power; it is 
next to and immediately under God our Judge. Concern- 
ing conscience, God says to every man, as he once did to 
Moses with respect to Pharaoh, " See, Lhave made thee a 
god to Pharaoh." Exod. 7:1. The voice of enlightened 
conscience is the voice of God. What it binds or looses on 
earth, is bound or loosed in heaven, 1 John, 3 : 20 ; the great* 
est deference and precise obedience is due to its command. 
Its consolations are of all the most sweet, and its condem- 
nations, excepting those by the mouth of Christ in the 
last judgment, most terrible. Zuingle spoke not without 
ground, when he said, " What death would I not rather 



354 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

choose ; what punishment would I not rather bear ; yea, 
into what a profound abyss of hell would I not rather enter, 
than to witness against my conscience ?" It is likely he had 
felt the terrors of it to be more bitter than death. How 
many have chosen strangling, rather than life, under the 
terrors of conscience. Wherever you go, conscience accom- 
panies you ; whatever you say, do, or but think, it records, 
in order to the day of account. When all friends forsake 
thee, yea, when thy soul forsakes thy body, conscience will 
not, cannot forsake thee. When thy body is most weak, thy 
conscience is most vigorous and active. Never is there more 
life in the conscience than when death makes its nearest 
approach to the body. When it smiles, acquits, and com- 
forts, what a heaven does it create within a man. And 
when it frowns, condemns, and terrifies, how does it becloud, 
yea, benight all the pleasures and delights of this world. 
conscience, how glad would the damned be to have taken 
their last farewell of thee, when they bade this world and 
its inhabitants farewell at death. And what had become of 
all the martyrs, when shut up from friends in dungeons, had 
it not been for the cheering cordials and comforts thou didst 
administer to support them ? It is certainly the best friend 
or the worst enemy in the whole creation. Tliis is con- 
science, these are its powers and offices. 

II. Our next inquiry must be into the light of con- 
science, and the various kinds of that light. The Lord did 
not frame such an* excellent structure as the soul of man, 
without windows to let in light, nor does he deny the bene- 
fit of light to any soul ; but there is a twofold light which 
men have to inform and guide their consciences. 

1. There is the common light of natural reason, called 
by Solomon, the candle of the Lord: " The spirit of man 
is the candle of the Lord." Prov. 20 : 27. This is affirmed 
by him who had an extraordinary portion of intellect, a 
brighter lamp of reason and wisdom than other men ; and 



THE SIN OB STIFLING CONVICTION. 

this is not only true of the soul in general, but of thai spe- 
cial power of ii which ifl called consciencSt which 

witness, and man's overseer. The heathen had this I 

shining in their minds and eniiscirncrs ; BOme of them, by 
the help of this natural light, made wonderful discoveries of 
the mysteries of nature ; yea. they bund Ltl efficacy ami 

power great in their consciences, to raise their hopes or fea 

according to the good or evil they had done. Ovid B 
11 As is every man's conscience, so are his hopes and I 
And to the shame of many who are called Christians, BOme 

among the heathen paid great reverence to their own con- 
sciences. "Principally revere thyself," says one; "tempted 
to any base action, dread thyself, even when there is no other 
witness." The generality of the heathen, however, did not 
so, and are charged with this in the text ; besides, this light 
can make no discoveries of Christ, and of the way of salva- 
tion by him. The most eagle-eyed philosophers among them 
were in the dark here. And therefore, 

2. God has afforded men a more clear and excellent 
light to shine into their minds and consciences, even the 
light of the gosjiel, which compared with the light of natu- 
ral reason, is as the light of the sun to the dim moonlight. 
" He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his 
judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any na- 
tion; and as for his judgments, they have not known them. 
Praise ye the Lord." Psa. 147 : 19, 20. Every creature 
has the name of God engraven on it, but he has magni- 
fied his word above all his name. Psa. 138 : 2. God, who 
best knows the value of his own mercies, accounts this a 
singular favor and privilege to any nation. Without reve- 
lation we could never have known the cause of our misery, 
the fall of Adam, or the only way of our recovery by Christ 
by this a people are lifted up to heaven, Matthew 11 : 23, 
in respect to the means of salvation ; and consequently, the 
neglect of such light and love will plunge the guilty into 



356 CHK-IST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

proportionable misery. "This is the condemnation, that 
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather 
than light." John 3 : 19. 

Moreover, God not only affords the light of reason and 
gospel revelation to some men in an eminent degree, but to 
these he adds the internal illumination of his Spirit, the 
clearest and most glorious light in the world. He shineth 
into their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the 
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6. 
These are the three sorts of light God makes to shine into 
the souls and consciences of men to guide them ; the first a 
common and general light, the two last the most clear and 
transcendent in excellency, especially that of the Spirit with 
the gospel. For though the sun be risen, yet men may 
draw the curtains about them, and lie in darkness ; but the 
Spirit enlightens the soul. 

III. How this light shining into the consciences of men 
leads them to obedience, and how men's lusts struggle 
against the obligations of an enlightened conscience, is the 
next thing to be considered. 

It is beyond all controversy, that an enlightened con* 
science lays strong and indispensable obligations on the soul 
to obedience ; for the will of God is the supreme law ; it i8 
the will of "the only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord 
of lords." 1 Tim. 6 : 15. And the promulgation and man- 
ifestation of it binds the conscience to obedience, so that no 
authority on earth can loose the bands. For conscience, as 
God's vicegerent, in his name requires obedience, and the 
man that hears the voice of G od from thft mouth of his own 
conscience thereupon becomes a debtor, Rom. 1 : 14, and is 
put under a necessity. 1 Cor. 9:16. 

Now conscience, by reason of the light that shines into 
it, feeling itself under such strong bands and necessities, 
stimulates and urges the soul to obedience, warns, com- 
inands, and presses the soul to its duty against the contrary 






THE SIN OP ST] I' I. ON. 

inclinations of the flesh ; and benoe arise those conflicts in 
the bosoms of men. Sometimes conscience prevails, and 
sometimes lusts and corruptions prevail, and thai with great 
difficulty; for it is no1 alike easy to all men to shake off or 
burst the bauds of their consciences. What a bard task had 
Saul to conquer his conscience. " I forced myself/' saith In-. 

I Sam. 13 : 12 ; he knew it belonged not to bim to ofler 
sacrifice, his conscience plainly told bim it would be Bin ; but 
the tear of the Philistines being Btronger than the fear of God, 
he ventured upon it against the plain dictates of his con- 
science. Thus Herod gave sentence to put John to death : 

II The king was sorry ; nevertheless, for the oath's sake, and 
them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it. to he 
given her." Matt. 14 : 9. His honor weighed more than 
his fear of sin, his own word more than God's word. No 
man is so perplexed between two vices, hut he may find an 
issue without falling into a third. 

Pilate's conscience was convinced of Christ's innocence, 
Matt. 27 : 18, 19, yet the fear of Cesar hurried him on to 
the greatest wickedness, even to give sentence against inno- 
cent blood, yea, the blood of the Son of God. Darius, in 
like manner, knew that Daniel was not only an excellent 
person, but that he was entrapped by the nobles merely for 
his conscience, and that to put him to death was to sacrifice 
him to their malice. This he and his conscience debated, 
and many encounters he had with it ; for the record saith, 
he '*' was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on 
Daniel to deliver him ; and he labored till the going down of 
the sun to deliver him," Dan. 6:14; but after a day's con- 
test between him and conscience, sin prevailed against light 
and returned victor in the evening. So it was with poor 
Spira, a sad apostate ; he seemed to hear, as it were, an in- 
ward voice, Do not write, Spira, do not write. But the love 
of his estate, wife, and children, drew his hand to the paper, 
though conscience struggled hard to hold it back. 



358 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

Thus, as the restless sea strives to beat down or break 
over its bounds, so do impetuous lusts strive to overbear 
light and conviction. As the Roman poet has said, 

. . . " Video meliora proboque, 

Deteriora sequOr." 
. . . " I see the right and must approve ; and yet 
The wrong pursue." 

They know this or that to be sin, and that they hazard their 
souls by it ; yet they venture on it, and rush into sin as the 
horse into the battle. 

IV. I promised to give some instances of the conflict 

BETWEEN MEN'S CONSCIENCES AND THEIR CORRUPTIONS, where- 
in conscience is vanquished and overborne, and by what 
weapons the victory over conscience is obtained. The con- 
victions of men are twofold : general, respecting their state 
and particular, respecting this or that action. 

1. There are general convictions given to some men by 
their consciences, that their state of soul is neither right nor 
safe — that they want the main thing which constitutes a 
Christian, namely, regeneration, or a gracious change of 
heart. They hear and read the signs and effects of this 
change, but their consciences plainly tell them that these 
evidences are not to be found in them — that they enjoy the 
external privileges of the saints, but belong not to them — that 
something is still wanting, and that the main thing too. 
" my soul, thou art not right ; thou hast gifts, thou hast a 
name to live, but for all that thou art dead ; some further 
work must be done upon thee, or thou art undone to eter- 
nity : thou passest for a good Christian among men, but 
woe to thee if thou die in the state thou art." These, and 
such as these, are the whispers of some men's consciences in 
their ears ; and yet they cannot so yield themselves up into 
the hands of their convictions, as to confess and bewail their 
hypocrisy and gross mistake, and seek for a better foundation 
to build their hope on. Felix's conscience gave him such a 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 

terrible monition as this, and made him tremble while Paul 
reasoned with him of righteousness, temperance, and judg- 
ment to come. Acts 2 I : 26, It whispered in hu ear 

language as this : " poor soul, how shall <urU an oppre 
such an intemperate Wretch as thou art, stand bei 
in this day of judgment, which Paul proves is certainly to 
come ?" For, as Tacitus says of him, lie was an insatiable 
gulf of covetousness. So it was with Agrippa; he stood 
unresolved what to do: he saw the heavenly doctrine of 
Christianity evidently confirmed by doctrines and mirac 
his conscience pleaded hard with him to embrace it, and had 
almost prevailed ; almost, or within a little as the word is, 
thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Acts 24 : 27. But 
Agrippa had too much wealth and honor to forsake for 
Christ ; the love of the present world overbore both the 
hopes and fears of the world to come. And thus that excel- 
lent fisher for souls, who had thoroughly converted so many 
to Christ, came short of securing Agrippa : almost is a great 
deal for so great a person. The gospel is a net, and encloses 
all sorts, whole Christians and half Christians. The con- 
science is caught, and the will begins to incline ; but the 
power and prevalence of sin, which, like the rudder, com- 
mands all to a contrary course. 

Let us come a little nearer, and inquire what are those 
hinderances that stop conscience in its course, bind and im- 
prison, stifle and suppress its convictions ; so that although a 
man strongly suspect his foundation to be but sand, and his 
hopes for heaven a strong delusion, yet will he not throw up 
his vain hopes, confess his self-deceits, and begin all anew. 
What is it which overbears conscience in this case ? Let 
men impartially examine their hearts, and it will be found 
that three things bind and imprison these convictions of con- 
science, and hold the truth in unrighteousness. 

(1 .) Slmme. Men who have been professors, and of good 
esteem in the world, are ashamed the world should know the 



360 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

mistakes and errors of all their life past, and what deluded 
fools and self-deceivers they have been : this is a powerful 
restraint upon conviction ; how shall they look their ac- 
quaintances in the face ? what will men think and say of 
them ? " How can ye believe, which receive honor one of 
another?" saith Christ. John 5:44. What, you Chris- 
tians, and yet not able to endure a censure or a scoff upon 
your names ! you who stand more upon your reputation than 
your salvation, how can you believe ? 

what madness and folly appear in this case ! men will 
choose rather to go on, though conscience tells them the end 
of that way will be death, than make a just and necessary 
retraction, which is not their shame, but their duty and 
glory. You who are so tender of the shame of men, how 
will you be able to endure the contempt and shame that 
shall be cast on you from God, angels, and men, in the great 
day ? Luke 9 : 26. It is no shame to acknowledge your 
mistake ; but to persist in it, after conviction, is shameful 
madness. 

1 knew an excellent minister, who proved an eminent 
instrument in the church of God, who, in the beginning of 
his ministerial course, was not upon the right foundation of 
regeneration. He had excellent natural and acquired gifts, 
and could preach of regeneration, faith, and heavenly-mind- 
edness, though he felt nothing of these things in his own 
experience. His life was unblamable, and he had no mean 
esteem among good men. It pleased the Lord, while he 
was studying an excellent spiritual point to preach to others, 
that his conscience first preached it in his study to himself, 
and that with such a close and rousing application, as made 
him tremble; telling him, that though he had gifts above 
many, and sobriety in his conversation, yet one thing, and 
that the main thing, sanctifying grace, was wanting. Here- 
upon the pangs of the new birth seized his soul, and the 
Lord made him a most searching, experimental minister, 






THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 361 

itnd crowned his labors with unusual success. This minister, 
to his dying day, was not ashamed in all companies to ac- 
knowledge his mistake, and bless God for his recovery out of 
it ; and in most of his sermons, he would endeavor to con- 
vince false professors of the necessity of a second conversion. 

(2.) Fear is another drawback which withholds men 
torn executing the convictions of conscience, and obeying its 
calls in this grand concern of the soul. They are easy under 
the external profession and duties of religion, and are afraid 
of throwing up their vain hopes, and engaging themselves 
heartily and thoroughly in religion. There are two things 
which alarm them. 

The troubles of sjririt attending the new birth; which 
they have read and heard of, and seen the effects in others. 
it is a dreadful thing to lie under the terrors which many 
have felt ! and thus it is with them as with one that hath a 
bone ill-set, who, if he have any ease, will rather endure a 
little daily pain, and be content to halt all his life, than un- 
dergo the pain of another fraction or dislocation in order to 
a perfect cure. 

They are afraid of 'external sufferings. The form of 
godliness leaves men a liberty to take or leave, according as 
the times favor or frown upon the ways of religion ; but the 
power of godliness will engage them beyond retreat. They 
must stand to it, come what will. But, soul, let me tell thee, 
if the just fears of hell and eternal wrath of God, to which 
thou art exposed by thy formality, were upon thee, all these 
fears of inward or outward troubles would vanish the same 
hour. 

(3.) Pride of heart suffers not this conviction of cort» 
goience to work out its effects, but holds the truth in un- 
righteousness, to the ruin of many souls. Men that live 
upon their own duties and self- righteousness, are not easily 
brought to renounce all this, and live upon the righteousness 
of Christ alone for justification. Proud nature will rather 

Christ Knocking. 1 6 



362 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

venture the hazard of damnation than practise such self- 
denial, Rom. 10:3; as you see it common among poor peo- 
ple to live on coarse fare of their own, rather than upon the 
alms and bounty of another. 

But if once the day of God's power come, and a man 
feels the commandment come home to his conscience as 
Paul did, Rom. 7:9, when he comes to realize the world 
to come, the value of his soul, and the danger it is in, then 
all these hinderances are as easily swept away, as so many 
straws by the rapid course of a mighty torrent. Then let 
men say or think what they please, I must not throw away 
my own soul to maintain a vain estimation among men. 
Let inward or outward sufferings be ever so great, it is bet- 
ter for me to feel them, than to suffer the everlasting wrath 
of the great and terrible God. Let my own righteousness 
be what it will, all is but dung and dross to the pure and 
perfect righteousness of Christ. 

2. As this general conviction with respect to men's con- 
dition is held in unrighteousness, and they go with troubled 
consciences and frequent inward fears by reason of it ; so 
there are many particular coin: let ions bound and imprisoned 
in men's souls — particular convictions both as to sins com- 
mitted and known duties omitted against both tables of the 
law of God, called in the text ungodliness and unright- 
eousness. Conscience labors and strives to bring men to 
confess, bewail, and reform them, but cannot prevail ; con- 
trary lusts and interests overpower them, and detain them in 
unrighteousness. What these are, and how they are with- 
held by those lusts, I shall give in some instances. And 
first, for convictions of ungodliness. 

Instance 1. There are many who call themselves Chris- 
tians, whose conscience tells them that God is to be daily 
icorshijrped by them, both in family and closet 'prayer. It 
sets before them Joshua's pious practice: "As for me and 
my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24 : 15. They 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 365 

know God is the founder, the owner, the master of their 
families ; that all family blessings arc from him, and there* 
fore he is to be acknowledged and sought in daily family 
prayers and praises. It tells them that the curse of Cod 
hangs over prayerless families, Jer. 1.0 : 25 ; and that they 
live in the inexcusable neglect of these duties, seldom wor- 
shipping God with their families or in their closets, and that 
therefore they live without God in the world. Dreadful 
will the reckoning be at the great day for their own souls, 
which they have starved for want of closet prayer, and for 
the souls committed to their charge, which perish for want 
of family duties. This is the case of many who yet pass for 
professors of Christianity. 

Lord, how sad a case is here. How can men live in the 
neglect of so great, so necessary a duty ? Certainly it is not 
for want of light and conviction ; the very light of nature, if 
we had no Bibles, discovers these duties. But three things 
hold this truth of God dictated by men's conscience in un- 
righteousness. 

(1.) The love of the world chokes this conviction in the 
souls of some ; and they think it enough to plead for their 
excuse, the want of opportunities and the many encumbran- 
ces they have, which will not allow them time for these 
duties. The world is a severe taskmaster, and fills their 
heads and hands all the day with cares and toils. And 
must the mouth of conscience then be stopped with such a 
plea as this ? No ; God and conscience will not be answered 
and put off so. The greatest number of persons in the world 
from whom God has the most spiritual and excellent wor- 
ship, are of the poorer class. Psalm 74 : 21 ; James 2:5. 
And it is highly probable your necessities had been less, if 
your prayers had been more. And what sweeter outlet and 
relief for all these troubles can you find than prayer ? This 
would sweeten all your labors and sorrows in the world. 

(2.) Consciousness of want of gifts restrains this con 



364 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

viction in others. Should they attempt such duties before 
others, they shall but expose their own ignorance and shame. 
But this is a vain pretence to shake off duty. The neglect 
of prayer is a principal cause of the inability you complain 
of; gifts as well as graces grow by exercise. "Unto every 
one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance.' ' 
Matt. 25 : 29. And besides, it is the fruit of pride, and 
argues your eye to be more upon your own honor than God's. 
The Lord regards not oratory in prayer ; your broken ex- 
pressions, yea, your groans and sighs please him more than 
all the eloquence in the world. 

(3.) But the principal thing which restrains men from 
obeying their convictions as to family and closet prayer, is a 
disinclined heart ; that is the root and true cause of these 
sinful neglects and omissions. You savor not the sweetness 
of these things ; and what a man tastes no sweetness in, or 
finds no necessity of, is easily omitted. 

But woe to you that go from day to day self-condemned 
for the neglect of so known, so sweet, and so necessary a 
duty. If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our 
heart. 1 John, 3 : 20. He who lives without prayer is 
dead while he lives ; and Let men say what they please of 
secret communion with God, I am sure, if religion thrives in 
the closet, it will never be banished from the family. The 
time is coming when death will break up your families, sep- 
arate the wife from the husband, the child from the parent, 
the servant from the master ; and then where you will find 
relief and comfort who have spent your time together so sin- 
fully and vainly, I cannot tell ; nor what account you can 
give to God in the great day. Think seriously on these 
things, they are worth thinking of 

Instance 2. A second instance of ungodliness under the 
convictions of conscience, \& formality in the external duties 
of religion and ordinances of God. Have not the consciences 
of Borne of yon often and plainly told you, that though you 



-IHE SIN OF STIFLING- CONVICTION. 365 

are often engaged in the public duties of hearing, prayer, 
and other ordinances, yet your hearts are not with God in 
those duties ? They do not strive after communion and fel- 
lowship with him therein. It is nothing hut the force of 
education, of custom, and the care of reputation which bring* 
you there. 

• Such a conviction as this, could it do its work thoroughly, 
would be the salvation of thy soul ; were power added to 
the form, as conscience would have it, thou wouldst then be 
a real Christian, and out of the danger of hell. The want 
of this thy conscience sees will be thy ruin, and accordingly 
gives thee plain warning of it. what pity is it such a 
conviction as this should be held in unrighteousness. But 
so it is in very many souls, and that on several accounts. 

(1.) Because hypocrisy is so odious and abominable a sin 
that men are loath to own and acknowledge it, how guilty 
soever they be of it. What, dissemble with God, and play 
the hypocrite with him ? It is so foul a crime that men can- 
not easily be brought to charge themselves with it. They 
may have the infirmities which are common to the best of 
men, but they are not hypocrites. Thus, pride of heart casts 
a chain upon conviction, and binds it, that it cannot do its 
work. 

(2.) It is a cheap and easy way to give God the external 
worship of the body, but heart-ivork is hard work. To sit 
or kneel an hour or two is no great matter ; but to search, 
humble, and break the heart for sin, to raise earthly affec- 
tions into a spiritual, heavenly frame, this will cost many a 
hard effort. It is no severe task to sit before God as his peo- 
ple, while the fancy and thoughts are left at liberty to wan- 
der where they please, as the thoughts of hypocrites use to 
do, Ezek. 33 : 31 ; but to set a watch on the heart, to retract 
every wandering thought with a sigh, and to fix the thoughts 
on God, this is difficult, and the difficulty overpowers con* 
viction of duty. 



366 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

(3.) The atheism of the heart quenches this conviction 
in men's souls. Formality is a secret sin, not discernible by 
man ; the outside of religion looks fair to man's eye, and so 
long it is well enough, as if there was not a God who trieth 
the hearts and the reins. Thus, w T hen a beam of light and 
conviction shines into the soul, a cloud of natural atheism 
overshadows and darkens it. 

But, poor self- deceiving hypocrite, these things must not 
pass so ; thy conscience, as well as the word, tells thee it 
is not the place of worship, but the spirituality of it that 
God regards, John 4 : 23, 24 ; that they are hypocrites in 
scripture account who have God in their mouths, while he 
is far from their reins, Jer. 12:2; and that hypocrites will 
have the hottest place in hell. Matt. 24 : 51. 

Instance 3. A third instance of convictions of ungodli- 
ness held in unrighteousness, is in declining or denying to 
confess the known truths of God, which we ourselves have 
professed, when the confession of them exposes us to danger. 
In times of danger, conscience struggles hard with men to 
appear for the truths of God, and on no account whatever 
to dissemble or deny them ; and enforces its counsels and 
warnings upon us with such awful scriptures as these: "No 
man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, 
is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9 : G2. " But who- 
soever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny 
before my Father which is in heaven." Matt. 10 : 33. 
In this case conscience useth to struggle hard with men, 
yet is many times overborne by the temptations of the 
flesh. A s, 

(1.) By carnal fears. The fear of suffering gets ascen- 
dency over the fear of God ; men choose rather to venture 
their souls upon wrath to come, than the present wrath of 
incensed enemies. They vainly "hope to find mercy with 
God," but expect none from men. Thus the fear of man 
bringeth a snare, Prov. 29 : 25 ; and so the voice of con- 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION, 367 

science is drowned by the louder clamors and threats of 
adversaries. 

(2.) As the fear of man's threatenings, so the distrust oj 
Goers promises defeats the design of conscience. If men 
believed the promises, they would never be afraid of their 
duties ; faith in the promises would make men bold as lions, 
if such a word was in mind as this : " Of whom hast thou 
been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not 
remembered me ?" Isa. 57 : 11. Men would say, as Zuingle 
in the like case, What death would I not rather choose to 
die ; what punishment would I not rather undergo ; yea, into 
what vault of hell would I not rather choose to be cast, than 
to witness against my own conscience ? 

(3.) The inordinate love of the world overpowers con 
science, and drowns its voice in such an hour of temptation . 
So Demas found it. 2 Tim. 4:10. what a dangerous 
conflict is there in an hour of temptation, between an enlight- 
ened head and a worldly heart. 

(4.) The examples of others who embrace the sinful 
terms of liberty to escape the danger, embolden men to fol- 
low, and Satan will not be wanting to improve their exam- 
ples. " Do not you see such and such men travelling the road 
before you ? Learned and prudent men, who, it may be, 
have less heart but more wisdom than you. Why will you 
be singular, and hazard all for that for which others will 
hazard nothing ?" 

But certainly such sins as these will cost you dear : it is 
a dreadful thing to betray the truth and honor of God for 
base, secular ends ; and you will find it so when you and 
your consciences shall debate it together in a calm hour. 

There are also sins of unrighteousness against the sec- 
ond table, in which many live against the plain dictates and 
warnings of their own consciences, though they know the 
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all un- 



368 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

righteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteous- 
ness. 

Instance 4. And here let me instance the sin of clef ranch 
ing others, hi our dealings with them ; overreaching and 
cheating the ignorant or unwary, who, it may be, would not 
be so unwary as they are, did they not repose confidence in 
our deceitful words and promises. Conscience cannot but 
startle at such a sin, the light of nature reveals it, and even 
the sober heathen abhor it ; but we who live under the gos- 
pel cannot but feel some terror and trembling in our con- 
sciences when we read such an awful prohibition, backed 
with such a dreadful threatening as that in 1 Thess. 4:6: 
" That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any 
matter; because that the Lord is the avenger of all such." 
The Greek word imports that no man overtop, that is, 
by power, or by craft and policy. To this sin a dreadful 
threatening is annexed. " the Lord is the r of all 

such." This word is but once more, that I remember, used 
in the New Testament, Rom. 13 : 1, and is there applied 
to the civil n •, who n execution done upon 

malefactors ; but here the Lord himseJ I will be this 

man's avenger. This rod, OX rather this axe, conscience 
shows to men. ami gives warning of the danger, and yet its 
convictie: rwered and bound as prisoners by, 

(1.) Tir "But they that will 

be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many 
foolish and hurtful lusts, whieh drown men in destruction 
and perdition." 1 Tim. G : 9. When a resolution is made 
for the world, men will be rich by right or wrong; this 
powerfully arms the temptation. Set gain (before such a 
man, and lie will break through the law of God and convic- 
tions of conscience, but he will have it ; this drowns them 
in destruction and perdition, that is, it surely, thoroughly, 
and fully ruins them. He is a dead man who is only drown- 
ed ; but to be drowned in destruction, yea, in destruction 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 369 

and perdition too, this must needs make his ruin sure ; and 
so all shall surely find who persist in such a course. 

(2.) Necessities and straits overbear conscience in others ; 
necessity has no ears to attend the voice of the word and 
conscience. Here conscience and poverty struggle together, 
and if the fear of God is not exalted in the soul, it now falls 
a prey to temptation. This danger the wise Agur foresaw, 
and earnestly entreated the Lord for a competency to avoid 
the snare of poverty. Prov. 30 : 8, 9. How much better 
were it for thee to endure the pains of hunger than those oi 
a guilty conscience. Such gains may be sweet in thy mouth, 
but bitter in thy bowels. 

(3.) The exa?nples of others who venture on such sins 
without scruple, and laugh at tender consciences. This 
emboldens others to follow them, Psa. 50 : 18, and thus the 
voice of conscience is drowned, and convictions buried for a 
time ; but conscience will thunder at last, and thy buried 
convictions will have a resurrection, and it shall be out of 
thy power to silence them again. 

Instance 5. The truth of God is held in unrighteousness, 
ivhen meris lusts will not suffer them to restore ivhat they 
have unjustly gotten into their hands. This sin resting on 
the consciences of some men, makes them very uneasy, and 
yet they make a hard shift to rub along under these regret? 
of conscience. Now those things which make a forcible 
entry into the conscience, take the truths of God prisoners 
and bind them, that they cannot break forth into the duty of 
restitution, are, 

(1.) The shame which attends and follows the duty to 
which God and conscience call the soul. It is a shame and 
reproach, they think, to get the name of a cheat ; loath, loath 
they are, that these works of darkness should come to the 
open light ; men will point at them, and say, There goes a 
thief, a cheat, an oppressor. This keeps many from restitu- 
tion. But dost thou not here commit a greater cheat than 

16* 



370 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR,. 

the former ? Which is the greatest shame, thinkest thou, 
to commit sin, or to confess and reform it ? To bind the 
snare upon thy soul by commission, or loose it from thy con- 
science by repentance and restitution ; to be the derision of 
wicked men, for none else will deride thee for thy duty, or 
be the contempt and derision of God, angels, and all good 
men for ever ; to attain inward peace at this hazard, or to 
lie under the continual lashes and wounds of thy own con- 
science ? 

(2.) Poverty is sometimes pleaded to quiet the troubled 
conscience ; and indeed this is a just, and very frequent 
blight of God on ill-gotten goods ; the curse of God is upon 
them, and they melt away. in what a snare have you 
now entangled your souls. Once you could, but would not 
restore ; a worldly heart would not part with unjust gains ( 
now you would, but cannot. Thus a worldly heart and an 
empty purse hold you first and last under the guilt of a 
known sin. A lamentable oaf 

(3.) Vain p ad silence convic- 

tions. My condition may alter; I may be in a situation 
hereafter when I can it than at present ; or I 

will do it in my last will, and charge my executors with it 
Thus do men bribe their OOD - to gel a little quiet, 

while they continue under known guilt, and eannot tell how 
soon death shall summon them to the awful bar of a just 
and terrible I i 

Sirs, as you value your peace, and which is more, your 
souls, release the Lord's prisoner which lies bound within 
you with cords and ehains of Satan's making; do it, I say, 
as you hope to see the faee of God in peace. You know that 
without repentance there can be no salvation, and without 
restitution no repentance; for how can you repent of a sin 
you still knowingly continue in ? Repentance is the soul's 
turning from sin, as well as its sorrow for sin. You cannot 
therefore repent of sin and still continue in it : " How shall 



THE SIN OF STIFLING- CONVICTION. 371 

we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein ?" Rom. 
6:2. Trust Providence for the supply of your wants and 
the wants of those dependent on you in the way of duty and 
righteousness. " A little that a righteous man hath is better 
than the riches of many wicked." Psa. 37 : 16. You will 
have more comfort in bread and water with peace of con- 
science, than in full tables with God's curse. You will lie 
more at ease on a bed of straw, than on a bed of down with 
an accusing conscience. 

Instance 6. How many lie under the condemnation of 
their consciences, for the lusts of uncleanness in which they 
live. They read, and their consciences apply to them such 
scripture as 1 Cor. 6 : 9, 10 : " Be not deceived ; neither 
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor 
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covet- 
ous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall 
inherit the kingdom of God." A dreadful sentence ! And 
this, " Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Heb. 
13 : 4. Yet convictions are overborne and stifled by, 

(1.) Tlie impetuous violence of carnal lusts, which per- 
mit not calm debates, but hurry them on to the sin, and 
leave them to consider the evil and dangerous consequences 
afterward. Thus they go, " as an ox to the slaughter, or as 
a fool to the correction of the stocks." Pro v. 7 : 22. Lust 
besots them. To give counsel now is but to give medicine 
in a paroxysm, or counsel to him who is running a race. 
Lust answers conscience as Antipater did one that presented 
him a book treating of happiness, I have no leisure to read 
such discourses. 

(2.) Others would fain solve their scruples with the fail- 
ings of good men, as David, Solomon, and others , not con- 
sidering what brokenness of heart it cost David, Psa. 51, 
and Solomon sorrow more bitter than death, Eccl. 7 : 26. 
This is a presumptuous way of sinning, and how dreadful 
that is, see in Num. 15 : 30. 



372 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE BOOR. 

Instance 7. Truth is often held in unrighteousness by 
sinful silence, in ?iot reproving other men's sins ; thereby 
making them our own. We are sometimes cast into the 
company of ungodly men, where we hear the name of God 
blasphemed, or the truth, worship, or servants of God re- 
proached ; and have not so much courage to appear for God, 
as others have to appear against him : in such cases con- 
science is wont to stir up men to their duty, and charge it 
home upon them in the authority of such a scripture as 
this : " Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart ; 
thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer 
sin upon him." Lev. 19 : 17. 0, says conscience, thy 
silence now will be thy sin ; this man may perish for want 
of a seasonable, plain, and faithful rebuke ; thy silence will 
harden him in his wickedness. No sooner does such a con- 
viction stir in the conscience, but many things are ready to 
lay hold on it. As, 

(1.) A spirit of cowardice which makes us afraid to 
displease men, and chooses rather that the wrath of God 
should fall on them, than their wrath fall on us. We dare 
not take as much liberty to reprove sin as others do to com- 
mit it. They glory in their shame, and we are ashamed of 
what is both our glory and our duty 

(2.) Dei or mar relation to the pci'sou 

Ig. It is a father, a husband, a superior, on whose favor 
I depend, and should 1 displease him I may ruin myself; 
this is the voice of the flesh. Hence duty is neglected, and 
the soul of a friend basely betrayed ; our interest is preferred 
to God's, and thereby frequently lost; for there is no better 
way to secure our own interest in any man's heart, than to 
fasten it in his conscience by our faithfulness and by bein:: 
willing to hazard it for God's glory. The Lord blesses 
men's faithfulness above all their sinful, carnal policy. " He 
that rebuketh a man, afterwards shall find more favor than 
he that nattereth with his lips." Prov. 28 : 23. 



THE SIN OF STIFLINO CONVICTION. 373 

(3.) Me?i > s own guilt silences them. They are ashamed 
and afraid to reprove other men's sins, lest they should heal 
of their own. Fear of retort keeps them from the duty of 
reprehension. Thus we fall into a new sin for fear of reviv- 
ing an old one. " He that reproveth a scorner, getteth to 
himself shame ; and he that rebukcth a wicked man, getteth 
himself a blot." Prov. 9:7. But this is the fruit of our 
pride and ignorance. "What we fear, might turn to our ben 
eflt. The reproof given is duty discharged ; and the retort 
in return is a fresh call to repentance for sin past, and a 
caution against sin to come. 

Instance 8. Another instance of conviction of unri^ht 
eousness imprisoned in men's souls is, not distributing to 
the necessities of others, especially such as fear God, when 
it is in the power of our hands to do it, and conscience as 
well as Scripture calls us to our duty. Men cannot be igno- 
rant of that text where charity to the saints is by the Lord 
Jesus Christ put for the whole of obedience, and men's 
eternal states are fixed according to their observance of this 
command, Matt. 25 : 40, 41 ; though I fear few, very few 
study and believe it as they ought. Thou canst, says con 
science, if thou wilt, relieve such or such a poor Christian, 
and therein express thy love to Christ : do it, God will repay 
it ; if thou refusest, how dwelleth the love of God in thee ? 

I John, 3 : 17. This is the voice of God and conscience, 
but divers lusts are ready to seize and bind this conviction 
also as soon as it stirs. 

(1.) The excessive love of earthly things. The world 
is so deep in men's hearts, that they will rather part with 
their peace, yea, and their souls too, than part with it. 
Hence come those churlish answers, like that of Nabal, 

II Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh, 
that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men 
whom I know not whence they be ?" 1 Sam. 25 : 11. 

(2.) Unbelief ; which denies honor and due credit to 



374 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

Christ's bills of exchange drawn upon them in Scripture, and 
presented to them by the hands of poor saints. They refuse 
to credit them, though conscience protest against their non- 
compliance. Christ says, " Whosoever shall give you a cup 
of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ; 
verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward." Mark 
9 : 41. He shall gain that which he camiot lose, by parting 
with that which he cannot keep. 

(3.) The want of love to Jesus Christ. Did we love 
him in sincerity, and were that love fervent as it ought to 
be, it would make us more ready to lay down our necks for 
Christ, than we now are to lay down a shilling for him. 
1 John, 3:16. It is our duty, hi some cases, to spend oui 
blood for the saints. So it was in the primitive times : 
Behold, said the Christian's enemies, how they love one an- 
other, and are willing to die one for another. But that spirit 
is almost extinguished in these degenerate dayB. 

Instance 9. How many stand convinced, by their own 
consciences, what a sin it is to spc/td their precious time so 
idly and vainly as they do. When a day is lost in vanity, 
duties neglected, and no good dune or received, at night 
conscience reckons with them for it, and asks what account 
they can give of that day to God, how they can satisfy 
themselves to lie down and sleep under so much guilt. 
Ajid yet, when the morrow comes, the vanity of their hearts 
carries them on in the same course again the next day ; 
and while they keep in vain company they are quiet, till 
conscience finds them at leisure to debate it again with 
them. Now the things which overpower these convictions 
are, 

(1.) In some men, their ignorance and insensibility of 
the preciousness of time. They know it is a sin to spend 
their time so vainly, but little consider that eternity itself 
hangs upon this little moment of time ; that the great work 
of their salvation will require all the time they have ; and 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 375 

if it be not finished in this small allotment of time, it can 
never be finished. John 9:4. 

(2.) The examples of vain persons who are as prodigal 
of their precious time as themselves, and entice them to 
spend it as they do. 

(3.) The delusive power of sensual pleasures. how 
pleasantly does time slide away in theatres and taverns, in 
relating or hearing stories, news, and other such matters. 

(4.) Inconsiderateness of the sharp and terrible rebukes 
of conscience for this on a death-bed, or the terrors of the 
Lord in the day of judgment. 

In all these instances you see how common is this 
dreadful evil of holding the truth in unrighteousness ; yet 
these are but a few selected from many. 



376 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE TRUTH HELD IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS- 
CONTINUED. 

"TIIE WRATH OF GOD IS REVEALED FROM HEAVEN AGAINS'I 
ALL UNGODLINESS AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS OF MEN, WHO HOLI 
THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." Rom. 1 : 18. 

V. I now proceed to show how and why the imprison- 
ment of convictions, or holding the truths of God in un- 
righteousness, SO DREADFULLY INCENSES HIS WRATH. And 
this it does on several accounts. 

1. Knoicledge of sin is a choice help to preserve men 
from falling into it. There are thousands of sins commit 
ted in the world, which had never been committed if men 
had known them to be sins before they committed them 
Every sinner durst not make so bold with his conscience as 
you have done. The apostle tells us, the reason why the 
princes of this world crucified the Lord of glory was, be- 
cause they knew him not, 1 Cor. 2 : 8 ; had they known him 
they would not have dared to do as they did. And so, in 
multitudes of lesser sins, Satan blinds the eyes of men with 
ignorance, then uses their hands and tongues in wickedness ; 
he is the ruler of the darkness of this world. Eph. G : 12. 
But when men know this or that to be sin, and yet venture 
on it, an excellent antidote against sin is turned into a 
dreadful aggravation of it, which highly incenses the wrath 
of God. 

(2.) Knowledge and conviction going before, add pre- 
sumption to the sin that follows after it ; and presumptuous 
sin is the most provoking and daring sin : from this way of 
sinning David earnestly besought God to keep him: " Keep 
back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." Psa. 19 : 13. 
When a man sees sin and yet ventures on it, in such sinning 
there is a despising of the law of God : a man may break 



THE SIN OF STIFLING- CONVICTION. 

the law while he approves, reverences, and honors it in bJU 
heart, Horn. 7: 12, 13 j but here the commandment is de- 
spised, as God told David, 2 Bam. 12 : 'J. It is as if a man 
should say, I see the command of God armed with threaten- 
ing in my way, but I will go on for all that. 

3. Knowledge and conviction leave the conscience of a 
sinner ivholly without excuse for his sin. In this case there 
is no plea left to extenuate the offence : " Now they have 
no cloak for their sin." John 15 : 22. If a man sins igno- 
rantly, his ignorance is some excuse for his sin ; it excuses it 
in a measure, as Paul tells us, 1 Tim. 1 : 13, "I did it 
ignorantly :" here is a cloak or covering, an extenuation oi 
the sin ; but knowledge takes away this cloak, and makes 
the sin appear naked in all its odious deformity. 

4. Light or knowledge of the law and will of God, is a 
very choice and excellent mercy ; it is a choice and singular 
favor, for God to make the light of knowledge shine into a 
man's understanding ; it is a mercy withheld from multi- 
tudes, Psa. 147 : 19, and those who enjoy it are under special 
engagements to bless God for it, and to improve it diligently 
and thankfully to his service and glory : but for a man to 
arm such a mercy as this against God, to fight against him 
with one of his choicest mercies, this must be highly pro- 
voking to the Lord ; it is therefore mentioned as a high 
aggravation of Solomon's sin, that he sinned against the 
Lord, after the Lord had appeared unto him twice. 1 Kings, 
11: 9. 

5. This way of sinning argues an extraordinary degree 
of hardness of heart ; it is a sign of but little tenderness, 
or sense of the evil of sin. Some men, when God shows 
them the evil of s.n in the glass of the law, tremble at the 
sight of it ; so did Paul : " When the commandment came, 
sin revived, and I died," Rom. 7 : 9, he sunk down at the 
sight of it. But God shows thee the evil of sin in the glass 
of his law, and thou makest nothing of it : obdurate 



378 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

heart ! When the rod was turned into a serpent Moses fled 
from it, being afraid to touch it ; but though God turn the 
rod into a serpent, and discover the venomous nature of sin 
in his word, thou canst handle and play with that serpent, 
and put it into thy bosom : this shows thy heart to be awfully 
infatuated. 

6. To go against this convincing, warning vcice, icoimds 
a mail's conscience more than any other way of sinning 
doth ; and when conscience is so wounded, who or what 
shall then comfort thee ? It is a true rule, the more any sin 
violates a man's conscience, the greater that sin is. The sin 
of devils is the most dreadful sin ; and what makes it so, 
but the horrid violation of their consciences, and their ma- 
licious rebellion against clear knowledge ? They know and 
sin, they believe and tremble, Jas. 2 : 19 ; they roar under 
' the tortures of conscience like the roar of the sea, or the 
noise of the rocks before a storm. 

then, if there be any degree of tenderness left in you, 
if any fear of God or regard for salvation, let go all God's 
prisoners which lie bound and imprisoned in the souls of any 
of you this day. Blessed be God, some have done so, and 
are at rest in their spirits by BO doing ; they could have no 
till they unbound and yielded obedience to them. It is 
said, Acts 16 : 3 s , that when the magistrates at Philippi 
understood that the men whom they had bound and im- 
prisoned were Romans, they feared ; and well they might, 
for the punishment was great for any man who injured a 
citizen or freeman of Rome ; but every conviction you 
imprison is a mi a, a commissioned officer 

of God, and woe to him that binds or abuses it. Do you 
know what you do ? Are you aware of the danger ? Wast 
thou not afraid, asked David of the Amalekite, to stretch 
forth thine hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? 2 Sam. 
1:11. So say I, Art thou not afraid to destroy the inline- 
q messenger of God, sent to thy soul lor good ? Con- 



THE SIN OF STIFLING- CONVICTION. 379 

viction is a kind of embryo of conversion ; the conversion 
and salvation of thy soul would be the result, were it 
obeyed : thy striving with it renders it abortive, and thy life 
must go for it, except God revive it again. Loose then 
every man the Lord's prisoners — I mean, your restrained, 
Etifled convictions — stifle them no longer ; you see what a 
dreadful aggravation of sin it is, and that " the wrath of 
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and 
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteous- 
ness." 

Inference 1. This will prove a fruitful doctrine to 
inform us, first, that knowledge in itself is not enough to 
secure the soul of any man from hell. No gifts, no know- 
ledge but that only which is influential upon the heart and 
life, and to which we pay obedience, can secure any man 
from wrath : "If ye know these things, happy are ye if 
ye do them." John 13 : 17. The greatest sins may be 
found in conjunction with the greatest knowledge, as you 
see in the fallen angels : light is then only a blessing when 
it guides the soul into the way of duty and obedience : there 
is many a knowing head in hell. Yet let no man indulge 
himself in ignorance, or shun the means of knowledge, that 
he may sin with less danger ; for you must account to God 
for all the knowledge you might have had, as well as for 
that you possessed — for the means of knowledge he gave 
you, as well as for the knowledge you actually attained. 

2. What a choice mercy is a tender conscience — a con- 
science yielding obedience to conviction. A drop of such 
tenderness in the conscience is better than a sea of specula- 
tive knowledge in the head. 1 Cor. 12 : 31. Many Chris- 
tians are ashamed to see themselves excelled by others in 
gifts, and are apt to be discouraged ; but if God has blessed 
thee with a tender heart, obedient to his will, so far as he is 
pleased to manifest it to thee, thou hast no reason to be dis- 
couraged for want of those gifts which others enjoy. You 



380 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

cannot discourse floridly or dispute subtlely, but do you obey 
conscientiously, and comply with the manifested wiH of God 
tenderly ? Then happy art thou. 0, it is far better to feel 
a truth than merely to know it. It was the high commen- 
dation of the Romans, that they obeyed from the heart the 
form of gospel doctrine which was delivered them, Rom. 
6 : 17, or rather into which they were delivered, as melted 
metals into moulds. Two learned divines travelling to the 
council of Constance were affected even to tears at the sight 
of a shepherd in the fields, mourning and melting at the sight 
of a toad, and blessing God that he had not made him such 
a loathsome creature ; whereupon they applied Augustine's 
words 'to themselves: "The unlearned will rise and take 
heaven from the learned." Thy little knowledge made 
effectual by obedience, is more sanctified, more sweet, and 
more saving than other men's, and therefore of much greater 
value. It is more sanctified ; for the blessing of God is upon 
it. Gal. 6 : 16. It is more sweet ; for you relish the good- 
ness, as well as discern the truth of gospel doctrines. Psa. 
119 : 103. It is not an insipid, dry speculation. And then 
it is more saving, being one of those better things that accom* 
pany salvation. Heb. 6 : 9. 

3. Learn hence what an uncomfortable life intelligent, 
but unregeneratc men live : they are frequently at war with 
their own consciences. "There is no peace, saith the Lord, 
to the wicked." Isa. 4S : 22. They and their consciences 
are ever and anon at daggers ; they have little pleasure in 
■ sin, and none at all in religion : they have none in religion, 
because they obey not its rules ; and little in sin, because 
their consciences are still galling and terrifying them for 
imprisoning their convictions. 

It is true, some men's consciences are seared as with a 
hot iron, 1 Tim. 4:2; but most have grumbling, and some 
have raging and roaring consciences : they seldom come 
under the word or rod, but their consciences lash them; 



THE S1H OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 

and when death approaches, the tenon of the Almighty do 

shake and terrify them. Altogether to neglect duty i 

dare not, and how to escape a lash from their com 

they know not. Fain they would have the pleasures of sill, 

but, like Balaam, they meet a BWord in the way; they 
plunge themselves into diversions like Cain, to \>c rid of a 
fury within them ; but all will not do. Is this a life for thee, 
reader, to live? No peace with God nor with thyself? 
Expect no peace while thy convictions lie bound and im 
prisoned in thy conscience. Sin for a moment is sweet in 
thy mouth, but it is presently turned into the gall of asps 
within thee. Job 20 : 14. that you did but know the 
pleasures of a pure, peaceable conscience, and how much it 
excels all the delights of sense and sin. 

4. Ministers had ?ieed often to repeat and inculcate 
the same truths to their hearers; for the work is not half 
done, when truth is got into the minds and consciences of 
men. Our work sticks at the heart more than at the head ; 
the understanding is many times opened, when the heart and 
will are locked and fast barred against it. To open the 
passages between the head and heart is the greatest diffi- 
culty ; this is the work of almighty power. There is know- 
ledge enough in some men's heads to save them, but it has 
not its liberty ; restrained truth cannot do its office. It is 
much easier to convince the mind than to change the heart 
or bow the will. The hardest part of the ministerial work 
is to preach truth into the hearts and lives of men. This 
makes the frequent inculcation of the same truths necessary 
to the people's souls. " To write the same things to you, to 
me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe." Phil. 3:1. 

5. How iconderfid is the strength of sin, which can 
hold men fast after their eyes are opened to see the misery 
and danger it has involved them in. One would think if 
a man's eyes were but once opened to see the moral evil that 
is in sin, and the everlasting train of penal evils that follow 



382 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOH. 

it, together with a way of escape from both, it would be 
impossible to hold that sinner a day longer in such a state 
of bondage : the work were then as good as done. But alas, 
we are mistaken; sin can hold those fast who see all this. 
They know it is a horrid violation of God's just and holy 
laws ; they know it brings them under his wrath and curse, 
and will damn them to all eternity if they continue in it ; 
they know Christ is able to save them to the uttermost that 
come unto God by him, and that he is as willing as he is 
able ; and yet no arguments can prevail with them to part 
with sin. Show but a beast a flame of fire, and you cannot 
drive him into it if he see any way of escape. Tell a man 
this is rank poison and will kill him, and you cannot make 
him swallow it though wrapt up in sugar, or put into the 
most pleasant sweetmeats. But let a sinner see death and 
destruction before him, and sin can make him rush on, as a 
horse into the battle. Jer. 8:6. He goes as an ox to the 
slaughter ; his heart is fully set in him to do evil, Eccl. 8:11; 
as one, when his physician told him if he followed such a 
course of sin he would in a little time lose his eves, said, Fare- 
well, then, sweet light: I cannot part with this practice. 
So with sinners : rather than forego their pleasures and break 
their customs in sin, farewell heaven, Christ, and all. the 
bewitching power of sin. " And they said, there is no hope, 
but we will walk after cur own devices." Jer. 18 : 12. 
When a man considers what visions of misery and wrath 
convictions give men, ho may wonder that all convinced 
men are not converted : and on the other hand, when lie 
considers the strong hold sin has upon the hearts of sinners, 
it may justly Beem a wonder that any are converted, 

G. How dreadful is ihr state of apostates who have Juid 
their eyes opened, t//< $ awakened, their resolu- 

tion* for Christ seemingly fix <<1 ; and yet, offer all this, 
return to their former course of sin. You see, brethren, sin 
has not only power to hold men in bondage to its lusts after 



THE SIN OF STIFLING- CONVICTION. 3S3 

their eyes have been opened, but it has power to entice back 
those who seemed to have clean escaped out of its hands. 
2 Pet. 2:18, 19. The unclean spirit may depart for a time, 
and make his reentry into the same soul with seven spirits 
worse than himself. Matt. 12 : 43-45. Restraints by con- 
viction and formality do not wholly dispossess Satan, he still 
keeps his property in the soul, for he calls it "my house ;" 
and that property which he keeps under all these convictions 
and partial reformations, opens to him and all his hellish 
retinue a door for his return. But how awful will the 
end of such men be ; and how just is that law of heaven 
which dooms the apostate to eternal wrath ! Heb. 10 : 38. 
Such are twice dead, and w r ill be plucked up by the roots. 
Jude 12. 

7. Hoiv sure and dreadful ivill be the condemnation of 
all those, in the day of the Lord, ivho obstinately continue 
in sin, under the convictions and condemnations of their 
own consciences. Unhappy men, you are condemned already, 
John 3:18; condemned by the law of God and by the sen- 
tence of your own consciences. "What your own conscience 
says according to God's law, he will confirm and make good. 
" If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, 
and knoweth all things." 1 John, 3 : 20. His sentence 
will be as clear as it will be terrible ; for in the last day the 
books will be opened — the book of God's omniscience, and the 
book of thine own conscience. The book of conscience is as 
it were a transcript or counterpart of God's book for thee to 
keep in thine own bosom. "When God's book and thy own 
shall be compared and found exactly to agree, there can be 
no further dispute of the equity of the account. Then God 
shall charge thee, saying, " Thou knewest this and that to he 
sin, and yet thy lusts hurried thee on to commit it ; is it not 
so ? look, sinner, into thine own book, and see if thy con- 
science has not so charged it to thy account. Thou knewest 
prayer was thy duty when thou ueglectedst it ; and over- 



384 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

reaching the ignorant, credulous, and unwary was thy sin 
when the love of gain tempted thee to it. You knew I had 
plainly told you that theft, uncleanness, drunkenness, and 
extortion would bar you out of the kingdom of Christ and of 
God, 1 Cor. 6 : 9, 10 ; and yet, putting that to the venture, you 
have lived in those sins ; is it not so ? Examine the book 
in your own bosom, and see." The Lord make men sensible 
of coming wrath for the sins they live in under light ; for 
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against them. 

Is the wrath of God revealed from heaven against all 
who hold the truth in unrighteousness ? Then let me exhort 
and persuade you by all the regard and love you have for 
your souls, by all the fears you have of the incensed wrath 
of the great and terrible God, that you forthwith set your 
convictions at liberty, and loose all the Lord's prisoners that 
lie bound within you : " Because there is wrath, beware." 
Job 36 : 18. stille the voice of your conscience no more, 
slight not the softest whisper or least intimation of con- 
science ; reverence and obey its voice. Motives pressing 
and persuading this, are many ; yel estimate them by weight 
rather than by number. 

Motive 1. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven 
against them who hold the truth in unrighteousness ; and 
because there is wrath t beware. Are you truly informed 
what the wrath of God is? '• Who knoweth the power of 
thine anger ! even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath." 
Psalm 90 : 11. 0, if the wrath of a king, who in all his 
glory is but a worm, be as the roaring of a lion, and as the 
messengers of death, Prov. 20 : 2 ; 16 : 14 ; what then is the 
power of His wrath, at whose frowns the kings of the earth 
tremble, and the captains and the mighty men shrink away ? 
If the lesser executions of it by providence in this world be 
so dreadful that even good men have desired a hiding-place 
in the grave till it be past, Job 14:13; then what is the 



THE SIN 0F % STIFLING CONVICTION. 385 

full execution thereof upon the ungodly In the place of tor- 
ment ? If the threats and denunciations of it against others 
made Hahakkuk, though assured of personal safety, to quiver 
with his lips and tremble in his bowels, Hab. 3:16; how 
much more should those tremble and quiver who are to }>*», 
the subject of it, and not the mere heralds of it as he was ? 
Ani, which is more than all, if Jesus Christ, who was to 
feel it but a few hours, and had the power of the Godhead 
to support him under it, did, notwithstanding, sweat as it 
were great drops of blood, and was sore amazed ; think with 
thyself, poor man, how shall thy heart endure, or thy hands 
be strong, when thou hast to do with an incensed God ? 

Motive 2. Till you set free your convictions, Satan 
ivill not let you go; he binds you while you bind them. 
Here is the command of God and the command of Satan in 
competition. Let my truths go free, which thou holdest in 
unrighteousness, says Jehovah ; bind and suppress them, 
says Satan, or they will deprive thee of the liberty and pleas- 
ure of thy life. While thou slightest the voice of God and 
conscience, dost thou not avowedly declare thyself the bond- 
slave of Satan ? " His servants ye are to whom ye obey.'* 
Rom. 6:16. Dare not to take one step further in the way 
of known sin, says conscience ; continue not at thy peril in 
such a dangerous state, after I have so clearly convinced and 
warned thee of it. Fear not, says Satan, if it be ill with 
thee, it will be as ill with millions. God will wound the 
heads of such as go on in their trespasses, says the Scripture. 
Psalm 68 : 21. Tush, others do so, and escape as well as 
the most scrupulous, says Satan. Now, I say, thy obedi- 
ence to Satan's commands plainly declares thee ; all this 
while, to be a poor enslaved captive to him, acted on and 
carried according to the prince of the power of the air, the 
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. 

Motive 3. Until you obey your convictions, you are con- 
federates with Satan in a desperate plot against your own 

Christ Knocking. 1 7 



386 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

souls ; you join with Christ's great and avowed enemy to 
dishonor him and destroy yourselves. Two things make you 
confederates with Satan against your own souls. First, your 
consent to this project for your damnation ; for so your own 
conscience out of the Scriptures informs you it is : consent 
makes you a party. Second, your concealment of this plot 
brings you in as a party with him. Confess thy sin, and 
bewail it, says conscience : not so, says pride and shame ; 
how shall I look men in the face if I do so ? Do not you, in 
all this, believe Satan and make God a liar ? Do not you 
act as men that hate their own souls, and love death ? Prov. 
8 : 36. it is a dreadful thing for men to be accessory to 
their own eternal ruin, and that after fair warning and 
notice given them by their own conscience. Satan, be his 
power what it will, cannot destroy you without your own 
consent. 

Motive 4. While you go ot< • victions, and 

turning aicayyour t ntance t you can- 

not be pardoned; you are in your sins, and the guilt of them 
all lies at your door. You Bee what the terms of remission 
are: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and be 
will have mercy upon him : and to our God, for he will 
abundantly pardon.' 1 [sa. 55 : /. So again, " Ho thai 0OT- 
ereth bis sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and 

ibr.-aketh them. sh;ill have merry." IVov. 23 : 13. You 

see by these, and many more plain scripture testimoi 
that there can be no hope of remission while you L r <> on in 
tliis path of rebellion ; concealing and persisting in 

your known wickedness. There is a necessary ami insepa- 
rable connection hot ween repentance and remission, Acts 
6 . 31, and Luke 21 : 47 ; and can you endure to have guilt 
your companion during life and for ever? 

Mottvb 5. V never have peace with coma 

while you keep convictions pr A man's conscience 



THE SIN OF STIFLINO CONVICTION. 387 

is his best friend or his worst enemy ; thence are the sweet- 
est comforts, and thence are the bitterest sorrows. It is u 
dreadful thing for a man to lie with a cold sweating honor 
upon his panting bosom. And this, or which is worse, obdu- 
racy and stupidity must be the case of them who hold the 
truth in unrighteousness. There can be no sounding a 
retreat to these terrors till Sheba's head be thrown over the 
walls ; I mean, till that sin which your conscience convinces 
you of, be delivered up. As Israel could have no peace till 
Achan was destroyed ; so thou shalt have no peace while 
thy sin is covered and hid. Men may cry peace, peace, to 
themselves while they continue in sin, Deut. 29 : 19, but the 
sharpest troubles of conscience are better than such peace. 
Deliver up thyself, if thou love peace, into the hands of thy 
own convictions, and thou art in the true way to peace. 
Thy rejoicing must be in the testimony of thy conscience, as 
the apostle speaks, 2 Cor. 1 : 12, or thou rejoicest in a dream, 
in a delusion, in a thing of naught. 

Motive 6. What dreadful charges are you likely to 
meet ivith on your death-beds on account of the sins you 
have lived in, against knoivledge and conviction. Con- 
science is never more active and vigorous than in the last 
hours and moments of life. Now it will be stifled and over- 
ruled no longer. It whispered before, but now it thunders. 
If a man has a clear and quiet conscience, his evening is 
clear and his sun sets without clouds : " The end of that 
man is peace." Psalm 37 : 37. In contemplation of this 
felicity, Balaam uttered that wish, " Let my last end be like 
his." Num. 23 : 10. This peace is the result of a man's 
obedience to the voice of conscience, this being the evidence we 
can most safely rely upon of our interest in Christ ; but the 
result of such violations and abuses of thy conscience cannot 
be peace to thy soul. It is true, some wicked men die in 
seeming peace, and some good men in trouble, but both the 
one and the other are mistaken : the first, as to the good 



oSS CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

v 

estate he fancies himself in, and the other as to his bad 
estate ; and a few moments will clear up the mistake cf 
each. 

Motive 7. Obedience to conviction will not only produce 
peace at death, but icill give you present ease and refresh- 
ment. No sooner did David resolve to obey the*voice of con- 
science in confessing his sin, but he had ease in his spirit. 
Psa. 32:5. "The work of righteousness shall be peace; 
and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for 
ever." Isa. 32 : 17. On the contrary, you find wicked men 
have no rest in their conscience, Job 20 : 20 ; for guilt lies 
working there as a thorn in the flesh. And what is life 
worth without ease ? To live ever in pain, to live upon the 
rack, is not to live. If, then, you love ease and quietness, obey 
your conscience ; pull out that thorn — I moan, the sin that 
sticks fast in thy soul, and pains thy conscience. AA'ho 
Would endure so much a; r all the flattering pleas- 

ures of sin? 

Motive 8. C WIS obeyed are th to Christ 

and eternal > > by him; they are the leading cf the 

Spirit, in order to union with John 16:14. Till 

; and yield Up J it shut 

out of your bouIi but fin< At 

your peril, t] at to theix calls. While you 

parley with ; and demur to their demands, 

Christ stands without, offering aims liously to you, hut 

is not admit*' bo tal happinesi 

or misery dej r obedience or disobedience to the 

calls of your com 

honor lii and 

rain them fair 

i for you at the jud u at of C Jfou 

1 of the answ( Pet 

2 I ; than which nothii This 

! in the day of judgment. 1 John, 1 : 17 



THE SIN OF STIFLINO CONVICTION. tj89 

Believe it, sirs, it is not your baptism, your church privileges, 
or the opinion men have of you, but the testimony of your 
conscience, that must be your comfort. I know men are not 
justified at God's bar by their own obedience, nor by any 
exactness of life; it is only Christ's righteousness that is the 
sinner's plea ; but your obedience to the calls of God and con- 
science is the evidence that you are in Christ. 

Motive 10. Consider tvhat a choice mercy it is, to be 
under such calls and convictions of conscience as may yet 
be obeyed: it is not so with convictions after death. Con- 
science convinces in hell as well as here, but all its convic- 
tions there are for torment, not recovery. it is a choice 
mercy that your convictions are yet remedial, not purely 
penal — that you are not fixed in the state of sin and misery 
as the damned are, but yet enjoy the benefit of your convic- 
tions; but this you will not enjoy long; therefore I beseech 
you, by all that is dear and valuable in your eyes, reverence 
your conscience, and set free the Lord's prisoners which lie 
bound within you. 

I now come to expostulate the matter with your con- 
sciences, and propound a few convictive queries to your souls. 
I am afraid there are many in this wretched case, who hold 
the truths of God in unrighteousness, though the wrath of 
God be revealed from heaven against all them that do so. 
Let me set before you some of God's demands. 

Demand 1. Do not some of you stand convinced by 
your own consciences this day, that your hearts and prac- 
tices are vastly different from those of the people of God 
among whom you live, and whose character you read in 
Scripture ? Do not your consciences tell you, th.xt you never 
took the pains for your salvation you see them take ; that 
there are some in your families, nay, possibly in your bosoms, 
who are serious and heavenly, while you are vain and 
earthly — who are on their knees wrestling with God, while 



•390 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

you are about the things of the world ? And does not con* 
science sometimes whisper thus into thine ear : Soul, thou art 
not right ; something is wanting to make thee a Christian ; 
thou wantest that which others have ; and except something 
further be done within thee, thou wilt be undone for ever ? 
If it be so, let me advise thee to hearken diligently to this 
voice of conscience ; do not venture to the judgment-seat of 
God in such a case : ponder that text, Matt. 21 : 32, " For 
John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye be 
lieved him not : but the publicans and the harlots believed 
him ; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, 
that ye might believe him ;" and let the disparity your 
conscience shows you between your own course and that of 
others, awaken you to more diligence and seriousness about 
your own salvation. How canst thou come from the tavern, 
or thy vain recreations, and find a wife or child in prayer, 
and thy conscience not smite thee ? It may be, they have 
been mourning for thy sins while thou hast been committing 
them. Perhaps there lives not far from thee a godly poor 
man, who out of his hard and pressing labors redeems more 
time for his soul in a week, than ever thou didst in thy life. 
hearken to the voice of thy conscience, else thou art he 
that boldest truth in unrighteousni 

Demand 2. Did thy con- meet thee in the 

way of si?i, as the angel of the Lord met Balaam with a 
drawn swoid, brandishing the threatenings of God against 
thee? Did it not say to thee, as a captain once said to his 
•soldiers about to retiv ttg himself down in their way, 

" If you go this way you shall go over your captain, you 
shall trample him first under your feet ?" " Stop, soul, stop !" 
said thy conscience ; " this and that word of God is against 
thee ; if thou proceed, thou must trample upon the sover- 
eign authority of God, in this or that command." Yet thy 
impetuous lu>:- have hurried thee forward : thou wouldst not 
fairly debate the case with thy conscience; and then did not 



THE SIN OF STIFLING- CONVICTION. 391 

thy conscience say to thee, as Reuben did to his brethren, 
"Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child ; 
and ye would not hear ? therefore behold also his blood is 
required." Gen. 42 : 22. If this has been your course of 
sinning, verily you are the persons that have held the truth 
of God in unrighteousness, and against you the wrath of God 
is revealed from heaven. 

Demand 3. Have you not seen the wrath of God re- 
vealed from heaven against other sinners ivho have gone 
hefore you in the same course of sin in which you now go ? 
and yet you persist in it, notwithstanding such dreadful 
warnings. Thus did Belshazzar, though he saw all that 
the God of heaven had done to his father. Dan. 5 : 20-22. 
You have seen great estates scattered, and their owners that 
got them by fraud and oppression reduced to beggary ; yet 
when a temptation is before you, you cannot forbear to take 
the advantage, as you call it, to get the gain of oppression. 
You have seen drunkards clothed with rags, and brought to 
miserable ends — adulterers severely punished, their names 
and estates, souls and bodies blasted, and wasted by a secret, 
but just stroke of God. Have you taken warning by these 
strokes of God, and hearkened to the monitions and cautions 
your consciences have thereupon given you ? If not, thou 
art the man who holdest the truth of God in unrighteous- 
ness. 

Demand 4. Do not your hearts rise against necessary 
and due reproofs given you by those ivho love your souls 
better than you do ? If you hate a faithful reprover, though 
you know you are guilty of the sin he reproves — if you re- 
criminate or deny in such cases, you are certainly so far con- 
federate with Satan against your own soul, and imprison 
your own convictions. 

Demand 5. Have not some of you apostatized from 
your ^rst profession, and are not those hopeful blossoms 
which once appeared upon your souls blighted and gone ? 



392 CHRIST KNOCKING- AT THE DOOR. 

You had lively convictions and melting affections, tenderness 
in your conscience and zeal for duties ; but all is now van- 
ished ; your affections are cold and your duties are omitted, 
though conscience often bids you remember from whence 
you are fallen, and do your first works. You are the persons 
guilty of tins sin. 

Demand 6. Do none of you presume upo?i future re- 
pentance, and make bold with your conscience for the pres- 
ent, thinking thus to compound with it ? This argues thee 
to be a self- condemned man, and one holding truth in un- 
righteousness : thy sin is present and certain, thy repentance 
but a peradventure. 2 Tim. 2 : 25. This is a daring way 
of presumptuous sinning. 

Demand 7. Have none of you taken the vows of God 
upon you to break off your iniquities by repentance, when 
you have been in dangerous sickness on shore, or dreadful 
tempests at sea ? Have you not said, Lord, if thou wilt but 
spare me this once, I will never live in the way I have lived 
any more : try me, Lord, this once ; and yet, when that 
affliction has vanished, your purposes and promises to God 
have vanished with it : you are the persons that hold the 
known truths of God prisoners in your souls. And to all 
these seven sorts of sinners, this text may justly be as the 
handwriting upon the wall once was, even a racne tekel 
that may make thy very loins to shake. Dan. 5 : 25-31. 

This doctrine furnishes important directions for the pre- 
vention of such presumptuous sins in men, that truth may 
have its free course through their souls. 

Direction 1. And to this end my first direction is, that 
^ou fail not to put every conviction into speedy execution. 
Do not delay ; it is a critical hour, and delays are exceedingly 
hazardous. Convictions are fixed and secured in mens souls 
four ways. First, by deep and serious consideration: "I 
thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimo- 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 393 

nies." Psalrn 119 : 59. Secondly, by earnest prayer : thus 
Saul, under his first convict ions, fell on his knees : u Behold, 
he prayeth." Acts 9:11. The breath of prayer foments 
and nourishes the sparks of conviction, that they be not ex- 
tinct. Thirdly, by diligent attendance on the word. The 
word begets conviction, and the word can through God's 
blessing preserve it. Fourthly, by performing, without de- 
lay, the duty thou art convinced of. " If any be a hearer of 
the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding 
his natural face in a glass ; for he beholdeth himself, and 
goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of 
man he was." James 1 : 23, 24. Take the sense thus : a 
man looks into the glass in the morning, and perhaps he sees 
a spot on his face, or a disorder in his hair or clothes, and 
thinks with himself, I will rectify it anon ; but being gone 
from the place, one thing or other diverts his mind, he forgets 
what he saw, and goes all the day with the spot on his face, 
never thinking of it more. brethren, delays are dangerous, 
sin is deceitful, Heb. 3 : 13 ; Satan is subtle, 2 Cor. 11:3, 
and in this way he gains his point. This motto may be 
written on the tomb of most that perish: "Here lies one 
that was destroyed by delays." Your life is uncertain, so 
are the strivings of the Spirit. Besides, there is a mighty 
advantage in the first impulse of the soul. When thy heart 
is once up in warm affections and resolutions, the work may 
be easily done ; as a bell, if once up, goes easily, but is hard 
to raise when down. See, in 2 Chron. 29 : 36, what advan- 
tage there is in a present warm frame. Besides, the nature 
of these things is too serious and weighty to be postponed and 
delayed. You cannot get out of the danger of hell, or into 
Christ too soon. Moreover, every repetition of sin after con- 
viction greatly aggravates it. For it is in sinning as in num 
bering, if the first be one, the second is ten, the third a hun- 
dred, and the fourth a thousand. And to conclude, think 
what you will, you can never have a fitter season than the 



394 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

present : the same difficulties you have to-day, you will have 
to-morrow, and it may be greater. Begin at once, therefore, 
to execute your convictions. 

Direction 2. If you would be clear from this great 
wickedness of holding the truth in unrighteousness, see that 
you reverence the voice and authority of your conscience ; 
and resolve with Job, " My heart shall not reproach me so 
long as I live." Job 27 : 6. There are two considerations 
fitted to beget reverence in men to the voice of their con- 
sciences. 

(1.) Conscience obeyed and kept pure and inviolate, is 
thy best friend; on earth. "Our rejoicing is this, the testi- 
mony of our conscience." 2 Cor. 1:12. The very heathen 
could say, " A good conscience is a wall of brass." What 
comforted Hezekiah on his supposed death-bed, but the testi- 
mony his conscience gave of his integrity? 2 Kings, 20 : 3. 
Solomon says, " The backslider in heart shall be filled with 
his own ways ; and a good man shall be satisfied from him- 
self." Prov. 14:14. Mark the opposition ; conscience gives 
the backslider a heart full of sorrow, while the heart of the 
upright man is full of peace. He is satisfied from himself, 
that is, from his own conscience, which though it be not the 
original spring, yet is the conduit at which he drinks peace 
joy, and encouragement. 

(2.) Conscience xcounded and abused will be our zcorst 
enemy; no poniards are so mortal as the wounds of con- 
science. " A wounded spirit who can bear?" Prov. 18 : 14. 
Could Judas bear it, or could Spira bear it ? What is the 
torment of hell, but the worm that dies not ; and what is 
that worm, but the remorse of conscience ? Mark 9 : 44. Oh, 
what is that fearful expectation mentioned by the apostle, 
Heb. 10 : 27 ; and what sorrows are those described, Deut. 
28 : G5, 6G. The primitive Christians chose rather to be cast 
to the lions than into the power of an enraged conscience. 
Every little trouble will be insupportable to a sick and 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 395 

wounded conscience, as a quart of water would be to your 
shoulder in a great vessel of lead. 

Oh, if men did but fear their own consciences, if they 
reverenced themselves, as the moralist speaks, if they exer- 
cised themselves to have always a conscience void of offence, 
as Paul did, Acts 24: 16, then would they be clear of this 
great sin of holding the truth in unrighteousness. 

Direction 3. If you would escape the guilt and danger 
of holding God's truth in unrighteousness, keep your hearts 
under the aivful sense of the day of judgment, when every 
secret thing must come into judgment, and conscience like a 
register-book is to be* opened and examined. The considera- 
tion of that day gives your conscience a seven-fold defence 
against sin. First, it incites every man to get real, solid 
grace, and not rest in an empty profession, and this secures 
us from formal hypocrisy, that we be not found foolish vir- 
gins. Matt. 25 : 3. Second, it excites us to the diligent 
improvement of our talents, that we be not found slothful 
servants, neglecting any duty to which God and conscience 
call us. Matt. 25:21. Third, it confirms and establishes 
us in the ways of God, that we wound not conscience by 
apostasy. 1 John, 2 : 28. Fourth, it is a loud call to every 
man to repent, and not to lie stupid and senseless, under 
guilt. Acts 17:30, 31. Fifth, it is a powerful antidote 
against formality in religion, the general and dangerous dis- 
ease of professors. Matt. 7 : 22, 23. Sixth, it excites holy 
fear and watchfulness in the whole course of life. 1 Peter, 
1 : 17. Seventh, it puts us not only on our watch, but on 
our knees in fervent prayer. 1 Peter, 4:7. 

And he who feels such effects as these from the consider- 
ation of that day, is fortified against the sin my text warns 
us of, and dares not hold the truth of God in unrighteous- 
ness. It is our indifference as to a judgment to come, and 
ignorance of the nature of it, which embolden us to neglect 
known duties and commit known sins. Amos 6:3; 2 Pet. 



396 CHRIST KNOCKING^ AT THE DOOR. 

3:3,4. If our thoughts and meditations were engaged mora 
frequently and seriously on such an awful subject, we should 
rather choose to die than to do violence to oui consciene 

Direction 4. Get true apprehensions of the moral evil 
that is in sin, and of the penal evil that follows ; then 
no temptation shall prevail with you to commit sin that you 
may escape a present trouble, or neglect a known duty to 
accommodate any earthly interest, and consequently to hold 
no truth of God in unrighteousness. It is fear of loss and 
Bufferings that so often overbears conscience : but if men 
were thoroughly sensible that the least sin is worse than the 
greatest affliction or Buffering, the peace of conscience would 
be well secured. That this is really BO, appears thus : first, 
afflictions do not make a man vile in the sight oi' God. A 
man may ho under manifold afflictions, and yet very precious 

in G lleh. 11 t sin makes man vile 

inth fGod. Dan. 9:14. B afflictions do not 

put men under I id afflictions 

ma] 1 2, hut sin brinf nl under 

the 10. Third, afflictions make men more 

like God, Seb. 12: 10; but Bin makes us more like Satan. 

1 John, 3:8; John 8 

sake are but the or e atui e'e wrath inflai mist as;* but 

sin wrath against as, as in the 

Fifth, affli ire hut outward evils on the body; 

but -in is an interna] evil L Prwr. 8 : 3G. 

; i, afflict: iw man] 

aim- iem, Matt. 5:10 , has DOW 3 nth, 

the [ sufferings for Christ ai to the soul, 

2 Cor. 7 : 4, but the Emits i s ; it yields 

nothing but sham." and I mth, afflictions for Christ 

the Way to heaven, hut sin is the broad way to hell. 
Ron Ninth, suffi t';m ur- for duty are but for a mo- 

men1 4:17; hut sufferings for sin will be eternal. 

Mark 9 : 11. 



THE SIN OF STIFLING CONVICTION. 397 

If such thoughts might be suffered to dwell with us, how 
Mould they guard the conscience against temptations, and 
secure our peace and purity. 

Direction 5. Be thoroughly persuaded of this great 
truth, that God takes great pleasure in uprightness, and 
will own and honor integrity amidst all the dangers which 
befall it. Psa. 11:7; Prov. 11 : 20. When he would en- 
courage Abraham to a life of integrity, he engages his 
almighty power for his protection in that way : "I am the 
Almighty God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect." 
Gen. 17 : 1. " The Lord God is a sun and shield ; the 
Lord will give grace and glory ; no good thing will he 
withhold from them that walk uprightly." Psa. 84: 11, 
An upright man is the boast of heaven, Job 1 : 8, because 
he bears the image of God. " The righteous Lord loveth 
righteousness." Psa. 11:7. And if integrity brings men 
into trouble, they may be sure the Lord will bring them out. 
" Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord 
delivereth him out of them all." Psa. 34 : 19. How safely 
then may they leave themselves in the hands of his infinite 
wisdom, power, and fatherly care. Nay, God is not only 
the protector, but also the rewarder of conscientious integ- 
rity, Psa. 18 : 20 ; and that in four ways. First, in the in- 
ward peace it yields : " The work of righteousness shall be 
peace ; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assur- 
ance for ever." Isa. 32 : 17. Bat the effect of sinful and car- 
nal policy is shame and sorrow. Second, in the success and 
issue of it ; it not only turns to God's glory, but it answers 
and accommodates our own designs and ends far better than 
our sinful projects can do. Prov, 28 : 23. Third, great 
is the joy resulting from it in the day of death. 2 Kings, 
20 : 3 ; Psalm 37 : 37. Fourth, in the world to come. 
Psalm 49 : 14. Were this duly considered and believed, 
men would choose rather to part with life than with the 
purity and peace of their consciences. They would suffer 



398 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

all wrongs and injuries rather than do conscience the least 
injury. 

Direction 6. Do not idolize the world, nor overvalue 
the trifles of this life : it is the love of the world which 
makes men violate the rules of their own conscience, 
2 Tim. 4:10; it is this that makes men strain hard to get 
loose from the ties of conscience. The young man was con- 
vinced, but the world was too hard for his convictions, Luke 
18 : 23 ; the degree of his sorrow was according to the 
degree of his love of the world. It is not having, but over- 
loving the world that ruins us ; it is a worldly heart which 
makes men turn and dissemble at the rate they do, in time 
of temptation. Could you once dethrone this idol, how safe 
would your conscience be. The church is described as 
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, Rev. 
12:1; the most zealous age of the church was the age of 
poverty. Try then these considerations upon your hearts, 
to loose them from the inordinate love of the world. First, 
what good will the world do when you have lost your integ- 
rity for its sake, and peace is taken away from the inner 
man ? What joy of the world had Judas, and what com- 
fort had Spira ? If you part with your integrity for it, God 
will blast it and it shall yield you no joy. Second, except 
you renounce the world, you are renounced by Christ : dis- 
claim it, or he will disclaim you. Luke 14 : 33. No man 
can be admitted into Christ's service, but by sealing this 
covenant with him. Third, whatever loss you shall sustain 
for Christ and conscience, he stands pledged to repair it to 
you, and that with an infinite overplus. Mark 10 : 29, 30. 
Fourth, in a word all the riches, pleasures, and honors in 
the world are not able to give you such joy and heart-re- 
freshing comfort as the acquitting and cheering voice of your 
own consciences can do. Settle these things in your hearts 
as defences against this danger. 

Direction 7. Beg of God, and labor to get more Chris- 



THE SI N OF STIFL1 KG CONV] 

tian courage and magnanimity; fox wanl of this, c 
science is often overborne against its own light and convic- 
tion: Christian magnanimity ia the Becurity of conscience. 

It is excellent and becoming a Christian to be able to I 
any thing but the frowns of God and bis own con 
All the famous champions of truth and witnesses for G 

who came victorious out of the field of temptation, with 
and unwounded consciences, were men of courage and r< 
lution. Dan. 3: 1G; Heb. 11:27; Acts 21:13. And 
what is this Christian courage but the fixed resolution of the 
soul to encounter all dangers, all sufferings, all reproach 
pains, and losses, in the strength of assisting grace, which 
shall assault us in the way of our duty ? and so it stands 
opposed in Scripture to the spirit of fear, Heb. 11:27; to 
shame, Mark 8 : 38 ; to apostasy, Heb. 10 : 39. He must 
neither be afraid nor ashamed, nor lose one inch of ground 
for the sake of whatsoever dangers he meets with, and that 
because he has embraced Christianity upon those terms, and 
was told of all this before, John 16:1; because there is no 
retreating, but to our own ruin, Heb. 10 : 38 ; because he 
owes all this, and much more than this, to Christ, Phil. 
1 : 29 ; because he understands the value of his soul above 
his body, and of eternal things beyond all temporal concerns, 
Matt. 10 : 28 ; and, in a word, because he believes the 
promises of God's assistance and reward, Heb. 11 : 25-27. 

my friends, were our fears thus subdued, and our 
faith thus exalted, how free and safe would truth be in our 
consciences ! He who owns any truth for the sake of a living, 
or to promote worldly interest by it, will disown that truth 
when it comes to live upon him, let conscience plead what 
it will; but he that has agreed with Christ upon these terms, 
and is content to be miserable for ever if there be not enough 
in Christ to make him happy, this man will be a steady 
Christian, and will rather lie in the worst prison, than im- 
prison God's known truths in unrighteousness. 



400 CHRIST KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. 

CONCLUSION. 

I have now delivered my message. I have set before 
you the Lord Jesus in the glory of his free-grace and conde- 
scending love to sinners. that I had had skill and ability 
to do it better ! I have wooed and expostulated with you 
on Christ's behalf; I have labored according to my little 
measure of strength, to cast up and prepare the way by 
removing the stumbling-blocks and discouragements out of 
it. This has been a time of conviction to many of you, 
some have no longer held their convictions under restraint, 
but many, I fear, do so ; and therefore I have in the close 
of all handled this awakening scripture, to show you what 
a horrid evil it is to detain God's truths in unrighteousness. 
I have also, in the name and by the authority of God, de- 
manded all the Lord's prisoners, his suppressed and restrained 
truths, at your hands : if you will unbind your convictions 
this day, and cut asunder the bonds of carnal fear and 
shame with which you restrain them, those truths you 
make free will make you free indeed ; if not, but you will 
still go on stifling and suppressing them in your own bosoms, 
remember they are so many witnesses prepared to give evi- 
dence against you in the great day. And that while you 
delay this duty, the sound of this text may never be out of 
your ears, nor suffer you to rest : " The wrath of God is re- 
vealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteous- 
ness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." 



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